Melanoma Research Insights: Impact, Trends, Opportunities

Abstract

The incidence of melanoma has risen rapidly over the past 50 years, and analysis of the research landscape suggests that countries and institutions worldwide are responding. Resources are being invested not only in understanding the epidemiology, but also in discovering and testing novel therapies and improving diagnostics to facilitate earlier detection. Today, melanoma represents four to five percent of all cancer research globally. Immunotherapy – both monotherapy and combinations – is a dominant theme in therapeutics studies. The United States is leading the charge in melanoma research overall, followed by China and Germany. That said, a substantial portion of the scholarly output from the top 10 countries includes collaborations with institutions outside the country and between academic and corporate researchers. The same is true at the institutional level. For example, 41% of Harvard University’s melanoma research output involves international collaborations, as does 58% of the output from Universite Paris-Saclay. Although data on disparities is sparse, organizations such as the US National Cancer Institute, among others, have shown that melanoma disproportionately affects men compared with women, and that there is low awareness among clinicians and the general population about melanoma risks for people of color. These areas may represent research opportunities going forward.