In 2024 an estimated 100,640 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with melanoma and approximately 8,290 deaths will be attributed to melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.

Survival rates for patients battling metastatic melanoma can now possibly be six years or more compared to 6.5 months in 2011, according to Newsmax (10/22/24). How is this amazing advancement possible? Innovations with immunotherapy and chemotherapy offer new hope. Dr. Hans Widlund, Associate Harvard professor and Brigham and Women's Hospital researcher, is focused specifically on melanoma cell reactions to new treatments. His important work has recently been published in Nature Communications and Cell Reports.

MEET DR. WIDLUND. "My laboratory team aims to better understand the underlying mechanisms of melanoma by creating diagnostic tools which assess a patients clinical risk and ensure we are treating patients with the most effective therapies available. Advances in melanoma treatment have offered respite for many patients, and even cures for some, but it remains unknown whose tumors are more likely to respond to oncogene-targeted drugs putting the breaks on the tumor cells themselves or immune checkpoint blocking antibodies that unleash the patient’s immune system against the tumor cells. While combination approaches hold promise, understanding what molecular pathways afford or prevent therapeutic benefit still needs to be investigated. We are committed to the critical mission to lengthen and broaden treatment for melanoma patients."