A clinical research program has been established to investigate various aspects of cutaneous oncology. Skin cancers under investigation include melanoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and non-melanoma skin cancer (basal/squamous cell carcinoma).
Melanoma Program: Familial melanoma is an important model for study and the Melanoma Family Risk Assessment Program (Mel-FRAP) has been established to identify new clinical and biological markers of melanoma susceptibility, to aid in the development of new prevention strategies. The Mel-FRAP registry and tissue bank consists of a clinical database with accompanying tissue specimens from melanoma patients and family members. It supports scientific investigation in areas of cancer genetics, molecular epidemiology, behavior science, developmental therapeutics and cancer prevention.
Molecular studies of DNA repair capacity in melanoma patients are ongoing to identify mechanisms of melanoma risk. Analysis of polymorphic variations in DNA repair genes in melanoma patients is aimed at the development of molecular testing for melanoma risk assessment. Communication of melanoma risk is being evaluated through a study that determines the impact of a tailored educational interventions on risk-reduction behaviors of first degree relatives of melanoma patients.
Cutaneous Lymphoma Program: Cutaneous lymphomas are skin-based lymphomas and serves as a model of lymphoma tumor progression. CutaneousT-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is lymphoma of T-lymphocytes that is first detected on the skin and progresses to involve extracutaneous sites. Early detection and complete responses to therapy are associated with long term survival in CTCL. Clinical research focuses on development of molecular diagnostic techniques to enhance early detection of cutaneous lymphomas and clinical trials to identify risk-reduction therapies with the capacity to induce complete responses in individuals at risk for progression to advanced stages of CTCL.
Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Program: Non-melanoma skin cancer (Basal Cell/Squamous Cell Carcinoma) serves as a human model for studies in molecular genetics, molecular epidemiology, carcinogenesis and DNA repair. Clinical trials focus on testing of novel chemoprevention agents.