title: The state of melanoma: challenges and opportunities.
abstract: The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) has charted a comprehensive assessment of the current state of melanoma research and care. Intensive discussions among members of the MRF Scientific Advisory Council and Breakthrough Consortium, a group that included clinicians and scientists, focused on four thematic areas - diagnosis/early detection, prevention, tumor cell dormancy (including metastasis), and therapy (response and resistance). These discussions extended over the course of 2015 and culminated at the Society of Melanoma Research 2015 International Congress in November. Each of the four groups has outlined their thoughts as per the current status, challenges, and opportunities in the four respective areas. The current state and immediate and long-term needs of the melanoma field, from basic research to clinical management, are presented in the following report.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merlino
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Meenhard
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herlyn
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology and Pathology, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Boris C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bastian
authors.affiliation: Developmental Therapeutics, Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Keith T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Flaherty
authors.affiliation: Department of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Department of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wargo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Dermatology, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Curiel-Lewandrowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Knight Cancer Institute Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, Oregon Health Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Sancy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Leachman
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology Program, Melanoma Laboratory, CNIO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Soengas
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: J William
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Harbour
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Stanford University Medical Center and Cancer Institute/VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Swetter
authors.affiliation: Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Aplin
authors.affiliation: Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Atkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Dermatopathology, Cancer Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Bosenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dummer
authors.affiliation: Department of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gershenwald
authors.affiliation: Dermatology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Allan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herlyn
authors.affiliation: Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Giorgos C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Karakousis
authors.affiliation: Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kirkwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Cancer Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krauthammer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology and Dermatology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Georgina V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McArthur
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology and Dermatology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ribas
authors.affiliation: Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schuchter
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical School, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sosman
authors.affiliation: Department of Tumor Biology, The Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Keiran S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Smalley
authors.affiliation: Women Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steeg
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Program, Department of Dermatology, Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Hensin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tueting
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Center, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Ashani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weeraratna
authors.affiliation: Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Foundation, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Randy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lomax
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Foundation, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Foundation, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silverstein
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Research Foundation, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Turnham
authors.affiliation: Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ze'ev A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Ronai
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012958:Societies, Scientific
keywords: dormancy; early diagnosis; melanoma; metastasis; prevention; therapy