Progress against Melanoma

There’s some electrifying news in the fight against melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Researchers are testing a therapy that uses electricity to open pores in cancer cells to prompt the immune system to fight melanoma tumors. Cancer researchers have long sought ways to deliver genes to tumors, sometimes employing viruses. Viral-delivery methods have drawbacks, including the potential to spread and the possibility of integrating into normal genes. This latest therapy is called electroporation. Adil Daud, M.D., of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, and Richard Heller, Ph.D., of the University of South Florida, teamed up to develop the technique for use in melanoma patients. The two men came up with a simple device that is held against the skin at the site of the tumor. The jolt of electricity helps a gene invade the tumor-a gene that commands the immune system to rev up. Experiments on mice have indicated an 80 percent reversal of the disease. To learn more about melanoma call Cancer Answers at 1-800-456-7121 or visit www.moffitt.usf.edu.