Skin cancer

News • Immune systems timulation

Using senescent cells as anti-cancer vaccines

Researchers from Barcelona report that vaccination with senescent cells shows promise in experimental models of melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

News • Dermatology tool

Skin cancer detection: handheld device as painless alternative to biopsy

A new handheld device has been developed to painlessly identify skin cancers using millimeter-wave imaging. This could slash the rate of unnecessary biopsies.

News • Dermatology diagnostics

AI-powered app to speed up skin cancer diagnoses

A mobile application assists in recording skin lesions and sends them to dermatology departments in hospitals, speeding up diagnosis of skin cancer.

Article • Experts point out lack of diverse data

AI in skin cancer detection: darker skin, inferior results?

Does artificial intelligence (AI) need more diversity? This aspect is brought up by experts in the context of AI systems to diagnose skin cancer. Their concern: images used to train such programs do not include data on a wide range of skin colours, leading to inferior results when diagnosing non-white patients.

News • Lesions

'Virtual histology' may reduce need for skin biopsies

A 'new technology shows promise by analyzing images of suspicious-looking lesions and quickly producing a detailed, microscopic image of the skin, bypassing several standard steps typically used for diagnosis - including skin biopsy, tissue fixation, processing, sectioning and histochemical staining.

Article • Skin cancer identification

Dermatology & AI: The need to quantify skin tones

Although artificial intelligence (AI) tools and smartphone apps that help identify suspicious moles and potential skin cancers are starting to proliferate, dermatology informatics has far to go before becoming a clinically adoptable technology. Many challenges need to be resolved, not least of which is the need for more image data representing people of colour.

News • Oncology early detection tool

Blood test for 50+ types of cancer promising for screening

Final results from a study of a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer have shown that it is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test among people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older, without symptoms. In a paper published in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology, researchers report that the test accurately detected…

Video • Resistance pulse

New study reveals how melanoma cells survive targeted therapies

In recent years, targeted therapies have cemented their place as some of the most important tools in cancer treatment. These medicines are designed to block specific signals that tumor cells use to grow and spread, while at the same time leaving normal cells unharmed. Targeted therapies can significantly extend patients’ lives, but the benefits are often only temporary. Over time, many cancers…

News • Skin cancer research

Aggressive melanoma: cells at tumour's edge are key to cancer spread

Research led by Barts Cancer Institute (BCI), Queen Mary University of London, has revealed novel insights into the mechanisms employed by melanoma cells to form tumours at secondary sites around the body. The findings from the study may help to identify new targets to inhibit melanoma spread and guide treatment decisions in the clinic.

News • Identification of skin cancer

Machine learning challenge on melanoma classification

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) and the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) are working together to host a machine learning challenge on melanoma classification, using the ISIC archive which contains the largest publicly available collection of quality controlled dermoscopic images of skin lesions. Image contributors include: Hospital Clínic de Barcelona,…

News • Not-so-smart algorithms

Skin cancer diagnosis apps: mostly unreliable and poorly regulated

Smartphone apps used as ‘early warning systems’ for skin cancer are poorly regulated and frequently cannot be relied upon to produce accurate results, according to new analysis by experts at the University of Birmingham. Skin cancer detection apps are designed to ensure that the right people seek medical attention by providing a risk assessment of a new or changing mole. These apps use…

News • UV exposure

Spike in female skin cancer rates reveals alarming tanning trends

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S., affecting one in five Americans in their lifetime. Limiting exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the number one way individuals can reduce their risk of skin cancer, though new data suggests that UV exposure is on the rise, particularly among Caucasian girls and young women. Research presented at the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology Summer…

News • Man against machine

AI is better than dermatologists at diagnosing skin cancer

Researchers have shown for the first time that a form of artificial intelligence or machine learning known as a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) is better than experienced dermatologists at detecting skin cancer. In a study published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology, researchers in Germany, the USA and France trained a CNN to identify skin cancer by showing it more…

Video • Saving your skin

Don’t fry this summer!

The long, cold winter, coupled with a rainy spring has most people looking forward to warm sunny days, but too much time in the sun can lead to skin damage and increase the risk of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To raise awareness about the dangers of overexposure to the sun, Robert Wood Johnson…

News • Melanoma therapy

Why pregnancy could literally save your skin

Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma. For decades, research has associated female sex and a history of previous pregnancy with better outcomes after a melanoma diagnosis. Now, a research team from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania says it may have…

News • Natural system

Papillomaviruses promote skin cancer

UV radiation has been known for a long time to be a risk factor for the development of skin cancer. Simultaneous infection with human papillomaviruses (HPV) has also been suspected to promote skin cancer, particularly in organ transplant recipients. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now been able to show for the first time in a natural system that papillomaviruses…

Article • Skin protection

Self-improving DNA sun screen developed

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a coating made out of DNA that gets better at protecting skin from Ultraviolet light the more it is exposed to the sun and which could potentially be used as wound covering for extreme environments.

News • Mice study

Eating tomatoes might diminish skin cancer risk

Daily tomato consumption appeared to cut the development of skin cancer tumors by half in a mouse study at The Ohio State University. The new study focused on how nutritional interventions can alter the risk for skin cancers.

Drug for Parkinson's not likely to cause melanoma

People with the movement disorder Parkinson’s disease have a much higher risk of the skin cancer melanoma, and vice versa, a Mayo Clinic study finds. Yet the results of the study argue against the Parkinson's drug levodopa as the cause.