Get your moles checked.

My dad died in July 1996 from a nasty mole on his back. He would ask me to scratch his back and I remember being 8 or 9 years old and having to scratch around it as it was near the seam of his tank top (which likely aggravated it daily). And would make comments about it being "gross". We just didn't know what we know today.

He was drying off after showering one morning and got blood all over the towel from the mole. He went to the dermatologist and was told he had malignant melanoma. This was in September 1995 and he was in the ground before the middle of July 1996. Nine months to get his affairs in order. I remember driving around and seeing his old college pals (one of which I still see once a year or so for lunch to this day). I remember him buying a bag phone, a "car phone" so we could keep in touch as he drove from Eastern KY to Duke University for experimental treatments (I believe it was the one that led to the immunotherapy treatments used today). He told my mom even if it didn't help him he hoped it would help someone.

I avoid the sun with the exception of the back of my neck and the top of my hands. He has no clue (nor do the dermatologists) what caused it but, like other posts mention, likely sunburns in childhood.

I am so hopeful for this treatment and thankful for the progress made on the immunotherapy fronts.

He said it might have been from sunburns when he was in the Boy Scouts.

I will never forget the look on his face when I spoke with him, a look of bewilderment wrestling with anger.

His wife teetered with grief and confusion, trying her best to be strong while trying to bear the sickening reality that nobody could have prepared their family for.

I always get an annual dermatology checkup now because of him.

These delays help fill graveyards in the meantime: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/01/th.... The tragedy goes mostly unremarked on, because the dead don't agitate or vote.

As some unsolicited practical advice, yes, it's always good to protect one's self from the sun using long sleeves or sunscreen. However, melanoma can and often does occur in areas that does not receive sun exposure. This could be between your toes or inside your butt cheeks. As a result, it's worthwhile to have a dermatologist conduct a skin exam once a year. Normally, this is covered under a specialist visit for insurance and for many insurance plans this is a flat fee.

Outside of a regular exam, any growth that has unusual size, shape, or color should be checked by a dermatologist, especially if it changes. My lesion was raised off the skin and red in color. It also changed and grew over time. If one can not immediately see a dermatologist, lacks insurance, or money for a visit, regular pictures of the skin blemish or growth can help track changes. If it changes, though, it really does require a dermatologist to look at it.

Lastly, dermatologists can and do make mistakes. In my case, my lesion was dismissed as a benign nevus at first visit. When I revisted the physician six months later, it was larger and was finally biopsied to discover it was melanoma. It is possible that the cancer metastasized in the interim period, but we'll never know. That said, if one is concerned about a growth and the physician defers, it is very simple to tell the dermatologist that you'd feel more comfortable if we biopsied the growth just to be sure. You don't have to be mean and I've never been refused. At that point, they take a small sample of the growth and send it to the lab. Then, you know for sure. Normally, the sample is taken by using a razor blade and skimming off some of the surface. It's fast, easy, and while not painless, it is not particularly painful. Generally, this is rolled into my specialist visit fee for insurance, but they may send an additional billing code to insurance.

Finally, dermatolgists can be difficult to schedule with. Honestly, their schedule is often filled with cosmetic procedures like skin peels and botox because it's so profitable. That said, any dermatologist can do a biopsy, so just call around to find one with an opening that takes your particular insurance.

I apologist for the side talk. I often find the whole talk to your doc discussion regarding skin lacks details, so hopefully this helps. Great to hear that the treatments are progressing.

Anyone know if there's talk of using this profilactically, like the HPV vaccine? (I realize that viruses != cancers, but IIUC hpv can sometimes lead to cancer, which is why I thought to ask.)

I wonder how they identify the targets in each genome. Is there an optimizing expert system? Generative AI?

[1] https://www.phrp.com.au/media/media-releases/two-in-three-au...

Seems to be a tad expensive, but also generalizable. Hopefully it can replace hormone therapy for breast cancers, and be extended to all common cancers.

Because it is. DNA/RNA is the language of all life. Moderna is literally working at the language of life layer to produce their vaccines.

Side note: in the article, I find it a bit inappropriate that the first paragraphs only talk about the effects on the stock prices of both involved companies, before going into details of the research and how the vaccine works…

Also, misc side note: I keep reading the words "Madonna" and "Cults" in the title even though they're not there. Was very confused when I first clicked the link.

I do agree that drug approval processes need to consider the negative cost of delay, but in this specific case, from further in the article we see:

> Moderna is currently building a dedicated facility in Massachusetts to produce the vaccine at commercial scale, which it hopes to finish sometime next year.

> "We need to make sure that we have that near completion before we could even contemplate asking for approval," Hoge said.

And the reason for this is that you typically need to submit detailed manufacturing information as part of your new drug approval process. This allows the FDA assess how likely the drug you actually sell will provide the same benefits as those in the trial, as well as make sure you don't like... dunno forget to serialize stuff and ship out contaminated product.

In my case, the therapy that finally worked for my cancer was only allowed as third-line after I had gone through two rounds of heavy chemo. Now it's second-line, which means way less toxicity for those after me. In hindsight, I definitely could be angry they didn't at least try it on me before BMT.

But that's the problem, you only know what's safe in hindsight. Two-arm clinical trials are expensive and slow but they are the gold standard that continues to deliver countless life-prolonging therapy.

There is so much money being made in cancer treatment these days which in the US is all coming from private for-profit companies. One unsuccessful (non-toxic) trial I was in saw the company bragging about its progress in its annual report while the trial was still going!

The FDA is the only thing stopping these companies. Every time a standard-of-care treatment is safe and effective you can thank the FDA for doing the unglamorous work of holding these companies accountable.