Category: Melanoma Stories
Police Lieutenant Tackles Melanoma in Phoenix
13 May 2019 In Melanoma Stories, Prevention
After being diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma, Chris Eyrich is committed to raising awareness about melanoma. He works to raise awareness of the unique occupational hazards faced by people who work primarily outdoors, such as police officers and other public servants.
How Jaqueline’s Promise and Persistence Paid Off
5 March 2019 In Melanoma Stories
Melanoma wasn't supposed to happen to Jacqueline. Melanoma was supposed to be a disease that older, white women got, not 21-year-old African Americans. "People often think having more melanin makes them from developing melanoma. But they’re wrong,” Jacqueline says.
Doing Good in Rebecca's Name
7 February 2019 In Melanoma Stories
It was March of 2005 when Christine Garrison’s life changed forever. She received the phone call that no mother ever wants to receive. Her daughter Rebecca’s suspicious mole was, in fact, Stage 3 melanoma.
When Are Melanoma Patients Finished with Immunotherapy?
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 23 January 2019 In Melanoma Stories, Science, Treatment
For melanoma patients, deciding when to discontinue treatment is a difficult decision. should the general ‘rule of thumb’ of treating patients with advanced disease until progression still apply? According to Dr. Jeffrey Weber and the data he presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress late last year, the answer is maybe not.
From Health Scare to Transformative Change
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 16 January 2019 In Melanoma Stories
Debra Black founded the Melanoma Research Alliance in 2007 after her own diagnosis with Stage II disease earlier that year. Since then, MRA has become the largest, non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide.
For Kimberly, Clinical Trials Were a Leap of Faith
1 October 2018 In Melanoma Stories
Kimberly was just 19-years-old when she noticed the black “freckle” on her foot. But it wasn’t until she was 22-years-old and pregnant with her first child that her “freckle” became a cause for concern.
Ipilimumab Cured Dan Engel He’s Committed to Paying it Forward
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 24 September 2018 In Melanoma Stories
Dan needed a miracle. At this point, he’d had six surgeries on his neck, endured radiation therapy, and been enrolled in five clinical trials. Dan’s miracle came in 2006 in the form of an experimental drug, ipilimumab or anti-CTLA4 antibody, that would later be named Yervoy. This drug would later become the first new FDA-approved melanoma treatment in 13 years.
Right Place, Right Time, Right Trial
10 September 2018 In Melanoma Stories, Treatment
Jonathan is cancer free because he was in the right place at the right time to be enrolled in a clinical trial. Read his story.
Wiser & Stronger – Life after Metastatic Melanoma
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 20 July 2018 In Melanoma Stories, Treatment
For Derrick, it all started with headaches. For the first time in his life, this otherwise perfectly healthy father of two, knew something was wrong.
Uveal ‘Clusters’ in Auburn, AL and Huntersville, NC
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 18 July 2018 In Allies & Partnerships, Melanoma Stories, News, Science, Treatment
When we talk about melanoma, it’s easy to forget that cutaneous – the most common variety that forms on the skin – isn’t the only game in town. Uveal represents about 5% of all melanomas diagnosed each year. So, when dozens of people from two towns in North Carolina and Alabama were diagnosed with the rare cancer alarm bells sounded.