The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the world’s leading non-profit funder of melanoma research, has successfully a raised a sum of $9.3 million investment to drive cutting-edge melanoma research worldwide.
According to certain reports, the stated new funding will be directed towards supporting 30 high-impact research projects at leading academic and medical institutions across United States, Europe and Australia.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account how Melanoma happens to be the deadliest form of skin cancer. In fact, this year alone, the disease is projected to affect more than 100,000 people in the United States, with one person, every hour of every day likely to die from the condition.
“Melanoma research has made astounding progress, but we are on the cusp of so much more,” said Joan Levy, Chief Science Officer at the Melanoma Research Alliance. “Nearly half of patients with advanced melanoma do not respond to current treatments, so it is incumbent upon us to keep driving research forward. We are extremely pleased with the portfolio of projects that MRA is supporting in this year’s grant cycle as they are addressing critically needed research areas for the melanoma field.”
Taking a deeper view of what all MRA does on a specific note, we begin from its attempt to generate better understanding regarding rare melanomas. This involves advancing research into hard-to-treat and understudied melanoma subtypes that are not caused by UV exposure.
Next up, the company has remained steadfastly focused on stopping Metastasis and Leptomeningeal disease, something which it has done by targeting the spread of melanoma across the brain, spine, and other vital areas.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in MRA’s bid to innovate neoadjuvant/adjuvant treatments. This translates to how the company has consistently worked to improve therapies before and after surgery, all for the purpose of boosting survival rates.
Hold on, we still have a few bits left to unpack, considering we haven’t yet touched upon how MRA has also worked, over the past, to supercharge anti-tumor immune responses. This it has largely done through the enhancement of body’s ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
We also haven’t touched upon MRA’s contributions to revolutionize diagnostics and predictive biomarkers through better tools for detecting, predicting, and personalizing melanoma care.
Among other things, we ought to mention how, thanks to its strategic investments across prevention, diagnosis, treatment, metastasis, and survivorship, the company has, thus far, drove the approval of more than 17 new therapeutic approaches.
“MRA stands at the forefront of the breakthroughs that have redefined melanoma research and care,” said Marc Hurlbert, Chief Executive Officer at the Melanoma Research Alliance. “When MRA was founded in 2007, melanoma research was limited, and treatment options were few. Today, patients with advanced melanoma have access to 17 FDA-approved treatments. This progress is saving lives and transforming how cancer is treated overall. We remain grateful to our supporters who made another groundbreaking year of research investments possible.”
