Cancer | Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals news and discussion blog

Devices for detecting skin cancer – Part 2

Friday, March 18th, 2011

This is the second in a two-part blog series on devices used to detect skin cancers in humans. The first post, which you can read here, looks at existing tools.

In recent years, several scientific research organisations and companies have begun studying and refining devices designed to detect cancerous lesions on the skin.

Although it is unlikely that these innovative technologies will be a replacement for a dermatologist’s professional judgment, they may significantly aid and hasten the diagnosis process. Four of the latest technologies have caught the media’s attention in recent years. (more…)

Devices for detecting skin cancer – Part 1

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Australia. With one of the highest rates in the world, it kills more than 1,850 Australians each year. The ability to identify cancerous lesions at early stages of development, when treatment is usually more effective and often curative, is vital to reducing deaths from skin cancer. (more…)

Australia still skin cancer world leader

Friday, December 17th, 2010

As we tweeted a little earlier today, a new report has been released showing that Australians have 13 times the likelihood of developing skin cancer compared to the global average.

The alarming statistic, taken from Cancer in Australia: an overview 2010, actually highlighted the risk of contracting melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. For every 100,000 people, there are 37 cases of melanoma diagnosed in Australia, compared to 3 per 100,000 as a global average. The melanoma rate was so high that it increased the overall rate of cancer in Australia to one of the highest in the world with 314 new cancer cases per 100,000 people, compared to a global average of 182 per 100,000. (more…)

Excessive UV exposure helps skin cancer cells survive

Monday, December 13th, 2010

A new study published online this week has reported that ultraviolet (UV) light activates an enzyme in the skin which helps cancerous cells to survive and proliferate.

Protein kinase D (PKD) has been shown by a team from three institutes in Georgia to prevent apoptosis (programmed cell death) in skin cells, including cancerous cells. Their work was e-published this week in the journal Oncogene. (more…)

Three decades of Slip! Slop! Slap! but teens still want tans

Monday, September 13th, 2010

As summer approaches in Australia and the Victorian SunSmart media campaign kicks into gear to celebrate 30 years of SunSmart, there are many who are yet to heed the warning messages.

Yesterday, the Cancer Council Victoria announced the results of its summer survey of 1400 Victorians aged 13 to 34, polling knowledge on, and attitudes and behaviors towards, skin protection. Of those polled, 53% desired a tan, while 57% of those aged 13-17 desired a tan. (more…)

Investment in prevention pays off: 120,000 DALYs could be saved by Sunsmart

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

The longest, most comprehensive review of preventative healthcare measures in Australia – the ACE-prevention report – has found that a publicly funded Sunsmart campaign could save 120,000 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) in the next 20 years.

The report, published earlier this week, reviewed 123 preventative healthcare measures to evaluate their value for money and impact upon illness and premature death, based on projected spend scenarios. The DALY measure – a standard unit of how an intervention scenario compares to no treatment or intervention, measured in healthy life years lived – showed that Sunsmart had the fourth biggest potential impact upon Australian public health, behind tobacco and fast food taxes and gastric banding in individuals with a body mass index over 35 (those considered severely obese).

(more…)

Brown in the USA: indoor tanning taxed

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

In October 2009 we discussed big changes to the global indoor tanning industry with the first nations implementing regulations and restrictions on who could use a tanning bed and for how long (see Teens and sunbed use; the regulation commences). This post foreshadowed a predicted rise in regulation around tanning beds and a number of nations have since responded to the WHO’s report.

July 1 saw the introduction of a new federal excise tax of 10% on all solarium sessions at tanning salons across the USA as a Federal Government response to the increased skin cancer risks posed by tanning booths. (more…)

The Melanocortin-1 Receptor (MC1R) and allelic variations

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Red Hair from derekGavey

Yesterday, Clinuvel announced the grant of a new patent from the USPTO – allowing the company exclusive protection for the use of afamelanotide (SCENESSE®) and any molecule belonging to the family of melanocortins for UV-protection of individuals who are at high risk of skin cancers. This patent, granting protection until 2024, refers specifically to individuals with defects (allelic variations) seen in the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R). The MC1R plays a key role in the pigmentary response and defensive mechanism to UV.

The MC1R is vital in regulating the quantity of melanin in skin and an individual’s pigmentary response; one’s ability to activate the protective dark pigment eumelanin in skin after UV induced skin damage (also known as the ‘tanning response’ after erythema).Allelic variations of the MC1R – of which there are over 80 identified in medical literature – are considered highly prevalent in fair skinned populations of European descent, with reports of up to 75% prevalence in Ireland. In red haired coloured (RHC) individuals single or multiple variations are seen in 93% of people tested. Conversely, variations are not seen in African populations, rather a wild type MC1R is referred to in those with darker skin. (more…)

Under your skin: Sunscreen and skin cancer this summer

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

With the northern Hemisphere officially creeping into summer, the first arguments of this season’s sun and skin debate have arisen

Anti cancer councils and organisations akin to Australia’s Sunsmart are continuing their awareness-raising campaigns, educating the public about the issue, and most importantly the practice of sun protective behaviour; although significant investment and persistence are required, well executed and long running campaigns can make significant progress, albeit on a regional scale. But a vocal group of skeptics are continuing to question whether a central element, sunscreen, might just be part of the problem.