Medimix International To Support Melanoma Metastasis Research

Main Category: Melanoma / Skin Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 27 Dec 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Medimix International, a leader in global healthcare marketing research, announced that it has decided to fund the work of world renowned dermatologists, Dr.s Claire Lugassy and Raymond L. Barnhill, in order to support the next phase of their studies on melanoma metastasis. The goal of this research is a better understanding of why there are interactions between external blood cells and melanoma cells. The outcome may offer a prospect for anti-cancer drugs, as well as early diagnosis and treatment of invasive melanoma.

Melanoma represents one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer, and it is predicted that more than 108,230 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2007. According to the American Melanoma Foundation, at current rates, a person has a one in 33 chance of developing melanoma (both in situ and invasive) in their lifetime. The risk of developing invasive melanoma is one in 63. These figures underscore the urgency of understanding not only its origins, but the way the cancer spreads throughout the body.

Originating in the pigment cells, melanoma may migrate to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system, becoming hard to treat and eventually fatal. However, the whole process of melanoma metastasis is poorly understood.

The propensity for malignant melanoma to migrate along anatomical structures such as nerves (neurotropism) and skin appendages has been recognized for many years. On the other hand this same capacity of melanoma to migrate along the external surfaces of blood and lymphatic vessels has received almost no attention in the literature.

According to Dr. Lugassy, the extravascular type of migration could explain the latency between the development of a primary tumor and the appearance of the first metastasis, usually in the regional lymph nodes. Dr.s Lugassy and Barnhill are investigating the role of extravascular migratory metastasis in relation to local, in-transit, and regional lymph node tumor spread at the gene-expression level and its relationship with lymphangiogenesis. Studies of angiotropism will be conducted in both the animal and human material.

In former studies, Drs, Barnhill and Lugassy have also investigated, whether laminin plays a role in this extravascular mechanism of tumor spread. The preliminary results suggested that the C16 laminin g1 chain peptide has angiotropic, extravascular migration promoting activity on human melanoma cells and might be a molecular target for preventing melanoma metastasis.

"A major outcome from this study was to show that angiotropism can be easily recognized by light microscopy in routine tissue sections of melanoma," says Dr Barnhill.

"We are very excited by the opportunity to support fundamental research in the field of Melanoma", says Henry Gazay, CEO of Medimix International. "Companies operating in Healthcare Marketing very seldom sponsor scientific research, and we see this unique cooperation as a way to foster understanding between scientific and marketing communities. Oncology is one among ten key-therapeutic areas in which Medimix International specializes, and we foresee developing similar relationships with researchers and KOLs around the world".

About Medimix International

Medimix International is a dynamic provider of advanced marketing research solutions for the healthcare industry worldwide. Medimix's proprietary panel provides direct access to over 500,000 physicians and healthcare professionals from around the world, making it one of the largest panels in the industry. Medimix specializes in global research. Learn more at http://www.medimix.net.