Whacking the Hedgehogs in Basal Cell Carcinoma with Vismodegib

If the year 2011 was the year for the 5% of skin cancers, this is the year for the 95% majority.  Last year saw approvals of two new melanoma cancer drugs, vemurafenib and  ipilimumab.  But, this year may be dubbed as the year when the other skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma finally gets a new Erivedge loaded Webley.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the western world—40% of all cancers are skin cancers with 80% of skin cancers being nonmelanoma, and primarily basal cell carcinoma.

Deploying Immunotherapeutic Drones for Cancer

Nearly six scores ago, a Westfield, Connecticut, based bone surgeon, William Coley, injected a mixture of dead Streptococcus pyrogens and dead Serratia marcescens bacteria (called Coley's vaccine or Coley's toxins) in patients' tumors and obtained a near-complete remission.  Nearly a quarter century after his death, the powerful immune stimulant in Coley's vaccine was identified as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in 1968.  Today, there is a renewed interest in Coley's approach and the immunotherapeutic strategies to control cancer.