This article reviews recent developments in targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) approaches directed to malignant liver lesions, bone metastases, neuroendocrine tumors, and castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer and discusses challenges and opportunities in this field. TRT has been employed since the first radioiodine thyroid treatment almost 75 years ago. Progress in the understanding of the complex underlying biology of cancer and advances in radiochemistry science, multimodal imaging techniques including the concept of "see and treat" within the framework of theranostics, and universal traction with the notion of precision medicine have all contributed to a resurgence of TRT.

The treatment options for patients with melanoma have expanded significantly over the past decade. In particular, the use of targeted therapy and immunotherapy has dramatically transformed the outlook for patients with advanced disease. These treatments are now being utilised as adjuvant therapy for patients with earlier stage melanoma after surgical resection. We review the latest updates for melanoma staging, surgical resection, radiotherapy and systemic therapies.

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, with few possibilities for therapeutic approaches, due to its multi-drug resistance and, consequently, low survival rate for patients. Conventional therapies for treatment melanoma include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, which have various side effects. For this reason, in recent years, pharmaceutical and biomedical research has focused on new sito-specific alternative therapeutic strategies. In this regard, nanotechnology offers numerous benefits which could improve the life expectancy of melanoma patients with very low adverse effects. This review aims to examine the latest advances in nanotechnology as an innovative strategy for treating melanoma. In particular, the use of different types of nanoparticles, such as vesicles, polymers, metal-based, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, solid lipid, microneedles, and their combination with immunotherapies and vaccines will be discussed.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer in the world with a growing incidence in North America. Contemporary treatments for melanoma include surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, apart from resection in early melanoma, the prognosis of patients using these treatments is typically poor. In the past decade, there have been significant advancements in melanoma therapies. Immunotherapies such as ipilimumab and targeted therapies such as vemurafenib have emerged as a promising option for patients as seen in both scientific and clinical research. Furthermore, combination therapies are starting to be administered in the form of polychemotherapy, polyimmunotherapy, and biochemotherapy, of which some have shown promising outcomes in relative efficacy and safety due to their multiple targets. Alongside these treatments, new research has been conducted into the evidence-based use of natural health products (NHPs) and natural compounds (NCs) on melanoma which may provide a long-term and non-toxic form of complementary therapy. Nevertheless, there is a limited consolidation of the research conducted in emerging melanoma treatments which may be useful for researchers and clinicians. Thus, this review attempts to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of current advancements in metastatic melanoma treatment by surveying new research into the molecular and cellular basis of treatments along with their clinical efficacy. In addition, this review aims to elucidate novel strategies that are currently being used and have the potential to be used in the future.

Since the discovery of activating mutations in the BRAF oncogene in melanoma, there has been remarkable progress in the development of targeted therapies for unresectable and metastatic melanoma. We review the latest developments in our understanding of the role of BRAF/MEK/ERK pathway signaling in melanoma, and the development of inhibitors of this pathway. We also explore alternative mutations seen in melanoma, such as NRAS, KIT, GNAQ, and GNA11, and the drug development that is ongoing based on this biology. Strategies for the management of the vexing clinical problem of BRAF inhibitor resistance, primarily via combination therapy, are outlined. With the recent approval of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib for stage IV metastatic melanoma, use of this agent is expanding in the United States. Thus, management of the skin toxicities of this agent, such as squamous cell carcinomas, “acneiform” eruptions, hand-foot syndrome, and panniculitis, will be a growing problem facing dermatologists today. We discuss the toxicities of targeted agents in use for melanoma, in particular the dermatologic effects and the management of these skin toxicities.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a noninvasive procedure that involves a photosensitizing drug and its subsequent activation by light to produce reactive oxygen species that specifically destroy target cells. Recently, PDT has been widely used in treating non-melanoma skin malignancies, the most common cancer in the USA, with superior cosmetic outcomes compared with conventional therapies. The topical ‘photosensitizers’ commonly used are 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and its esterified derivative methyl 5-aminolevulinate, which are precursors of the endogenous photosensitizer protoporphyrin IX. After treatment with ALA or methyl 5-aminolevulinate, protoporphyrin IX preferentially accumulates in the lesion area of various skin diseases, which allows not only PDT treatment but also fluorescence diagnosis with ALA-induced porphyrins. Susceptible lesions include various forms of non-melanoma skin cancer such as actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The most recent and promising developments in PDT include the discovery of new photosensitizers, the exploitation of new drug delivery systems and the combination of other modalities, which will all contribute to increasing PDT therapeutic efficacy and improving outcome. This article summarizes the main principles of PDT and its current clinical use in the management of non-melanoma skin cancers, as well as recent developments and possible future research directions.

In the structure of the incidence of skin tumors, melanoma accounts for a relatively smaller percentage, but that disease is associated with higher risk of an adverse outcome compared with many other malignancies.
 The study of innovative clinical developments in drug therapy for resectable melanoma, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting June 2022.
 The best clinical developments in drug treatment of patients with resectable melanoma were selected for analysis: 1) phase 3 study KEYNOTE-716; 2) PRADO; 3) Neo Trio; 4) SWOG 1512. The presented developments bring extremely promising results for melanoma therapy workflows.
 The use of cutting-edge anti-cancer therapeutics acting on various molecular targets drastically improves the tumor response as well as straitens the appearance of treatment-related adverse events.

Melanoma is a most aggressive skin cancer with limited therapeutic options and its incidence is increasing rapidly in recent years. The discovery and application of new targeted therapy agents have shown significant benefits. However, adverse side-effects and resistance to chemotherapy remain formidable challenges in the clinical treatment of malignant melanoma. Nanotherapeutics offers an important prospect of overcoming these drawbacks. The anti-tumoral applications of nanomedicine are varied, including those in chemotherapy, RNA interference, photothermal therapy, and photodynamic therapy. Furthermore, nanomedicine allows delivery of the effector structures into the tumor site via passive or active targeting, thereby allowing increased therapeutic specificity and reduced side effects. In this review, we summarize the latest developments in the application of nanocarrier-mediated targeted drug delivery to melanoma and nanomedicine-related clinical trials in melanoma treatment. We also discuss existing problems and opportunities for future developments, providing direction and new thoughts for further studies.

In recent years, melanoma has become a poster-child for the development of oncogene-directed targeted therapies. This approach, which has been exemplified by the development of small-molecule BRAF inhibitors and the BRAF/MEK inhibitor combination for BRAF-mutant melanoma, has brought new hope to patients. Despite these successes, treatment failure seems near inevitable in the majority of cases—even in individuals treated with the BRAF/MEK inhibitor doublet. In the current review, we discuss the future of combination strategies for patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma as well as the emerging therapeutic options for patients with NRAS-mutant and BRAF/NRAS-wild-type melanoma. We also outline some of the newest developments in the in-depth personalisation of therapy that should allow melanoma treatment to continue shaping the field precision cancer medicine.

Melanoma, a malignant form of skin cancer, has been swiftly increasing in recent years. Although there have been significant advancements in clinical treatment underlying a well-understanding of melanoma-susceptible genes and the molecular basis of melanoma pathogenesis, the permanency of response to therapy is frequently constrained by the emergence of acquired resistance and systemic toxicity. Conventional therapies, including surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, have already been used to treat melanoma and are dependent on the cancer stage. Nevertheless, ineffective side effects and the heterogeneity of tumors pose major obstacles to the therapeutic treatment of malignant melanoma through such strategies. In light of this, advanced therapies including nucleic acid therapies (ncRNA, aptamers), suicide gene therapies, and gene therapy using tumor suppressor genes, have lately gained immense attention in the field of cancer treatment. Furthermore, nanomedicine and targeted therapy based on gene editing tools have been applied to the treatment of melanoma as potential cancer treatment approaches nowadays. Indeed, nanovectors enable delivery of the therapeutic agents into the tumor sites by passive or active targeting, improving therapeutic efficiency and minimizing adverse effects. Accordingly, in this review, we summarized the recent findings related to novel targeted therapy methods as well as nanotechnology-based gene systems in melanoma. We also discussed current issues along with potential directions for future research, paving the way for the next-generation of melanoma treatments.