Leading Merkel cell carcinoma expert, Dr Wen Xu, recently presented two Australian clinical trials at the 2nd International Symposium of Merkel Cell Carcinoma in Seattle, USA.

The I-MAT clinical trial is giving patients with early-stage Merkel cell carcinoma an immunotherapy drug after their initial surgery and / or radiotherapy for the cancer to improve their cure rates.

A new innovative clinical trial hopes to find a novel treatment combination for patients who have developed metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

The new SiroSkin clinical trial is exploring whether a simple topical cream applied to the face can reduce incidences of skin cancer in organ transplant recipients.

A new editorial publication states that Keratinocyte (skin) cancer is the most common form of human cancer, yet limited treatment advances have been made in the past 10 years and few quality clinical trials have been published, particularly from Australia.

A melanoma clinical trial with a site in Carlton, Victoria, will examine the effectiveness of Melanoma Surveillance Photography – offering state-of-the-art technology aiming to improve surveillance for people at high risk of melanoma.

A world-wide clinical trial is now hoping to resolve this issue by investigating whether there is a difference in disease-free survival for patients treated with either a 1cm or 2cm excision margin for stage II primary cutaneous melanoma.

New melanoma research has shown the concurrent use of two drugs that slow the growth of metastatic melanoma, Dabrafenib and Trametinib, are safe to use during palliative radiation therapy.

A drug commonly used to treat prostate and breast cancer is being trialled in Bendigo to determine its effectiveness in treating melanoma, and more Bendigo residents with melanoma are being sought for the study.