A New Era of Advancement

“We know more about melanoma than we’ve ever known before—and in large part to the contributions of the MRA,” says Dr. Marc Hurlbert, Chief Executive Officer at MRA. “We know more about the biology of melanoma, treatment resistance, tumor mutations, how melanoma spreads and metastasizes, and the genetic difference between rare melanoma subtypes and cutaneous melanoma. Because of all the progress the field has made, we’re also able to identify the specific research gaps that exist.”

The juxtaposition between the research advancements and the research gaps are stark. Answering these questions, however, has become MRA’s North Star, directing the focus of what has become a new, bold, and ambitious plan. Efforts include MRA doubling its fundraising efforts — and capacity to fund innovative and lifesaving research — to an extraordinary $100 million dollars over the next 5 years. MRA is determined to actively move science forward, help patients most in need, and to scale as quickly as possible.

The vision includes four primary goals. These include:

1. Developing new treatments for patients that don’t respond to existing therapies. Although half of all patients with advanced melanoma benefit from existing treatments, the remaining half do not. “Even with the stories of triumph, success, and cure,” says Hurlbert, “we also have really devastating stories of lives cut too short — and it’s magnified because of the progress we’ve seen.” MRA is working hard to explore new treatments and novel immune therapies to address the gap where the current standard of care is not effective and to level the playing field for all patients. “We don’t want any patients to feel left behind,” says Hurlbert.

2. Improving treatment options and outcomes for patients with brain metastases. Melanoma has a high propensity to metastasize and spread to the brain and other central nervous system areas. Approximately 60% of patients with advanced melanoma develop brain metastases during the course of their disease.1 “We really need to understand why melanoma spreads to the brain and is able to go dormant, evading immune system detection, and what triggers melanomas out of that dormancy to initiate growth,” says Dr. Joan Levy, Chief Science Officer at MRA. Basically, why is the brain fertile soil for melanoma tumors to settle in and grow? MRA is working collaboratively across cancer types to better understand and develop treatments for brain metastases. We also have to ensure that when we find new treatments for brain metastases there will be clinical trials inclusive of these patients.

3. Translating new treatments for rare melanomas — including acral, mucosal, uveal, and pediatric melanoma. Patients with rare melanomas face unique challenges ranging from later diagnoses, poorer prognoses, and a lack of treatment options designed specifically to address the unique features of their tumors. MRA research investments of over $18 million have begun to advance the field’s understanding around the biology of these rare melanomas and their molecular genomics. To help answer additional critical questions, MRA has launched the RARE Registry (raremelanoma.org), a web-based, bidirectional, and interactive registry for patients with acral or mucosal melanoma. “Through the registry, patients with these rare melanoma subtypes can partner with researchers to accelerate research by helping the field better understand their unique patient journeys,” says Levy. “We’re also able to return de-identified data insights back to participants in real time. This allows them to access customized data snapshots to see how they fit into the entire cohort — something that can be really powerful for a rare cancer community. It’s exciting that participants can see research as it emerges as well as get tailored educational materials, clinical trial alerts, and webinars that they might be interested in,” says Levy. “The registry will be critical both in helping researchers get the data they need, but just as importantly helping them understand the patient’s journey as they experience it.”

4. Improving prevention, risk prediction, and diagnosis. Despite incredible progress in advancing new treatment options, melanoma continues to be the deadliest form of skin cancer with an estimated 100,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States alone. “There is an urgent need for new tools and new technologies to help a patient be empowered at home to check their own moles and for primary care doctors and nurse practitioners to say, ‘Aha, that is suspicious, let’s refer you to a dermatologist,” says Hurlbert. “Dermatologists also need more tools, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, to help them answer questions like, ‘Should I biopsy or not’ and then to assist pathologists to make definitive diagnoses.”

Just as MRA’s operating model has been unique, so too has its approach to partnerships. MRA helps bring together scientists, physicians, researchers, industry partners, government and regulatory officials, patients, advocates, philanthropists, and other nonprofit groups. This has been done through its Team Science Awards, nurturing collaborations across departments and institutions while also training a young investigator and through its Scientific Retreat where the best and brightest from across the world convene to share information and advance progress.