Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation. The new study by co-first-authors Kimberly Brown Dahlman, Ph.D., Junfeng Xia, Ph.D., and Katherine Hutchinson, B.S., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center [...]

An experimental drug that activates T-cells and promotes an immune response to fight tumors has shown promising early results in patients with kidney cancer, melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators Leora Horn, M.D., Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., and researchers from several other cancer centers tested the new compound. The results of the [...]

Therapies targeted to a specific mutation in the BRAF gene can significantly reduce tumor burden in metastatic melanoma. But these therapies are not suitable for melanomas lacking the mutation, and even tumors carrying the BRAF mutation eventually become resistant to those therapies. Using human melanoma tumors implanted into mice, Ann Richmond, Ph.D., and colleagues assessed [...]

Melanoma patients who are treated with new oral drugs inhibiting the BRAF gene are at increased risk for developing secondary skin cancers. A new study co-authored by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators and researchers from 12 other cancer centers discovered clues that may explain what is triggering these secondary cancers. VICC’s Igor Puzanov, M.D., assistant professor [...]

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center melanoma experts will hold a patient education symposium for melanoma survivors and caregivers on Saturday, March 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Preston Research Building, Room 898J. The free symposium, co-sponsored by the Melanoma Research Foundation, is open to all melanoma patients, no matter where they received their treatment. [...]

Investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and 12 other centers in the United States and Australia have found that a new drug for patients with metastatic melanoma nearly doubled median overall survival. More than half of patients who were treated with the novel drug vemurafenib, known commercially as Zelboraf, responded to treatment and experienced an impressive [...]

Investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and several other centers may be one step closer to finding out why some melanoma patients relapse after treatment with a promising new drug. Approximately half of all patients with the most deadly form of skin cancer have a mutation in the BRAF gene in their tumors that drives the [...]

Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been named to a melanoma research Dream Team of cancer investigators supported by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA). Sosman is among the Dream Team’s principal investigators who will work closely to write the genomic-driven clinical trials and [...]

Cancer patients who are undergoing treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy expect to experience side effects like nausea, fatigue and possible hair loss. But they may not realize that those treatments can cause additional side effects like dry skin, rashes and complexion changes. To help patients cope with these hair and skin issues, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer [...]

Are you currently going through lung cancer or pancreatic cancer treatment or have completed therapy? Jay Groves, administrative director at Vanderbilt Dayani Center, describes the new Vanderbilt Cancer Wellness Program. This program promotes the health and wellbeing of those touched by cancer through interactive, individualized and comprehensive services that complement your standard of care. Learn [...]