The Melanoma Working Group is a team of expert doctors and researchers; its main purpose is to identify biomarkers for the prediction of therapeutic response in order to prevent patients from undergoing ineffective treatments and experiencing unpleasant side effects.

The team is coordinated by Giandomenico Russo, director of the Molecular Oncology Laboratory at the Immacolata Dermal Institute (IDI) in Rome – one of the leading European centres for skin care – where the WG’s laboratories and operational secretariat are located.

As member of the ACC Network, the Melanoma Working Group can count on the collaboration of other 15 Institutes for Cancer Patient Care and Research (IRCCS), with access to one third of all new cases diagnosed in Italy every year (around 4000) in addition to 1300 Patients already undergoing therapy. 

The starting point for the WG’s activity is the characterization of genomic alterations in cancers in the current clinical routine: only a few genes – out of the hundreds of altered ones – are usually analysed and not all patients have access to these analyses. The use of new generation technologies (NGS Next Generation Sequencing) enables the WG to carry out rapid sequencing of the genome – at a low cost and on a large scale – which is very useful for the selection of the most appropriate therapy for each Patient.

Paolo Ascierto from the Pascale Cancer Institute of Naples and Licia Rivoltini from the National Cancer Institute of Milan – nationally and internationally recognized experts in the field – are taking part in the work as clinical and preclinical coordinators of the WG.