Longitudinal Analysis Reveals Dynamic Changes in Histopathologic Features in Responders to Neoadjuvant Treatment in a Stage III BRAF-Mutant Melanoma Cohort.

Summary: Skin cancer, like melanoma, can be very dangerous even after surgery. Doctors are finding that giving treatments before surgery (called neoadjuvant therapy) works better to keep the cancer from coming back. In a recent study of 60 patients, doctors looked at tumor samples under a microscope during this early treatment. They found that women responded especially well. Also, by just the second week of treatment, certain signs in the tissue—like specific immune cells and scar tissue—could predict if the treatment was working and if the cancer would stay away. This helps doctors know very early on if the patient is on the right track to beating the disease!