You probably think of melanoma as a form of skin cancer - the worst kind. You're correct. But melanoma is also a rare type of cancer involving the nasal passage and nearby sinuses (sinonasal).
Many head and neck cancers, including nasal, can't be operated on because of where they are located. Some are too close to the brain. That's why radiation therapy is often used to treat these cancers.
Treating advanced nasal cancers is a delicate business. Chemotherapy plus radiation therapy (chemoradiotherapy) is not recommended due to the risk of brain injury or blindness. But researchers found a regimen that looks to have merit.
For advanced head and neck cancers that have stopped responding to other therapies, there may be a new treatment option that uses something you leaned about in high school science class.
A study of 222 cases of oral or oropharyngeal cancer has yielded startling results about the role of gene expression in metastasis.
