WCCS/EADO 2016 | Differences in the number of clinical trials for melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma

“Peter Petzelbauer, MD, of the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, discusses the differences in number of clinical trials for melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma at the 2016 World Congress on Cancers of the Skin (WCCS) and the Congress of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology (EADO) in Vienna, Austria. Prof. Petzelbauer explains that an interesting aspect is that it was formally thought that melanoma is the tumor cell type with the largest amount of mutations. However, it is now known that squamous cell carcinoma has the same amount of mutations in the cell and interestingly, the number of patients who die from squamous cell carcinoma is the same number as those who die from melanoma. He explains that there are only three clinical studies for squamous cell carcinoma compared to almost sixteen which are currently running for melanoma. Prof. Petzelbauer believes that one potential reason is that patients with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma are at the age of around 70 and older, whereas there is a wide age range of patients with melanoma. This may mean that there may therefore be a stronger drive for new treatments in this area.