Did you know that immunotherapy is the most important topic of melanoma research on a global scale?

A new report highlights the different areas of melanoma research, showing that immunotherapy is the most important topic and reveals the countries that lead this research.

The study titled "Insights on Melanoma Research: Impact, Trends and Opportunities", published during Skin Cancer Awareness Month by the company's analysis of the disease. Elsevier information, mapping and analysis of academic research on melanoma in the world between 2013 and 2018.

The report's findings point out that melanoma research has accounted for 4-5% of all cancer research results in the last two decades. Just under 50,000 melanoma research articles were published between 2013 and 2018, suggesting that more investigations could be conducted.

Create a bird's eye view

"Melanoma remains a growing problem for health systems around the world, and the global research community seems to be responding well to the growing demand to develop promising treatment areas, such as immunotherapy," said Maria. Kleijn, Vice President, Analytical Services, Elsevier.

"Our report on the research ecosystem surrounding melanoma is designed to give an overview of the state of melanoma research and treatment, while highlighting unexplored topics for further studies. "

Immunotherapy, a treatment for cancer with substances that enhance the body's natural immune response, is the most important topic in melanoma research, accounting for 4.9% of articles published between 2013 and 2018.

Specifically, the research focused on newly developed immunotherapies, such as nivolumab, ipilimumab, and lambrolizumab. The top 10 articles on immunotherapy include research on monotherapies, single-drug therapies and drug combinations. While most research on melanoma is conducted in medicine, the field of computer science also has an impact, particularly in the diagnosis of melanoma.

Report highlights: skin color and melanoma findings

Among the top 10 countries in terms of search results:

• Five were European (Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France and Spain), together representing 15,688 published articles.
• When comparing research to melanoma rates at the country level, only Australia and Germany in the top 10 countries in terms of melanoma rates are also among the 10 most active countries for melanoma research .
• Countries in northern and central Europe are among the places where melanoma is most commonly diagnosed. However, they were not included in the list of top 10 countries engaged in cancer research.

Other conclusions

• Although the risk of dying from melanoma is higher, there is a gap in knowledge about melanoma prevention and detection strategies for people with darker skin.
• The limited research conducted on the experience of dark-skinned people who develop melanoma has also revealed ethnic and racial gaps in the scientific literature. These shortcomings include an unclear definition of ethnic minorities; dermatologists have false assumptions that ethnic minorities are less exposed to the risk of UV-induced skin cancer; and false beliefs of ethnic minorities that dark pigmentation protects against skin cancer
• Dark-skinned people are less likely than fair-skinned people to develop melanoma, but those who develop the disease have a much higher risk of death, with a five-year survival rate of 72% for African-Americans at 81% for Hispanics – compared to close to 90% among white people (according to US studies).