First International Symposium on Melanoma and Other Cutaneous Malignancies.

The First International Symposium on Melanoma and Other Cutaneous Malignancies, held in New York City on 23-25 April 2004, brought together researchers and clinicians from all over the world to discuss recent advances in the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of melanoma and other cutaneous malignancies. Discussion topics included primary and secondary prevention; advances in surgical therapy, including sentinel and elective lymph node dissection; the biology and pathogenesis of melanoma, including pathways of drug resistance; genomic analysis of melanoma, serum and tumour cell markers; with point and counterpoint sessions debating therapeutic controversies. The role of vaccines in the management of melanoma was discussed, including cell vaccines, dendritic cell-based vaccination and present research to improve the generation of melanoma vaccine-specific immunity. Adjuvant immunotherapy with high-dose IFN-alpha and an ongoing trial with biochemotherapy were debated. In addition, the role of chemotherapy and novel targeted agents in metastatic melanoma were discussed. Among the emerging agents and therapeutic targets presented were Bcl-2 antisense therapy, RAF kinases, heat-shock proteins, thalidomide and newer immunomodulatory drugs, cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 antibody and topical imiquimod. The symposium also provided an overview of existing and emerging agents and modalities in the management of patients with cutaneous T cell lymphomas, ocular melanoma and melanoma involving brain metastases. Sessions also included case-based learning and devoted ample time to providing 'how to' information for practising physicians.