Clinical trials are opportunities for people to participate in the advancement of scientific knowledge. It’s also the chance to access promising treatments before they’re widely available.
New clinical studies are paving the way for innovative therapies that could revolutionize treatment for skin cancer. From targeted therapies to light-activated compounds, researchers are testing a range of approaches to help improve outcomes for people with different types of skin cancer.
Overview of skin cancer clinical trials
Researchers continue to look for new and more effective ways to diagnose, treat, and even prevent skin cancer.
One key to the success of a clinical trial is a diverse group of participants. With diversity in participation, the researchers will learn how a drug or treatment will affect a wide variety of people, not just one specific group.
People of color tend to be under-represented in cancer clinical trials — especially skin cancer clinical trials. People of color also often receive a skin cancer diagnosis later than white people do. As a consequence, it’s important to know how skin cancer presents in a wide variety of skin tones, making it even more important for trials to be inclusive of different cultural backgrounds.
Types of skin cancer being studied
Scientists are exploring all major types of skin cancer in clinical trials.
Melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma
Several clinical trials are focused on melanoma, a form of skin cancer that starts in the cells that produce pigment, and Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare type of cancer that tends to start as a painless bump on a part of the skin often exposed to the sun. Both of these cancers tend to spread to other parts of the body.
Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common types of skin cancer. It develops in the thin, flat cells that form the very top layer of your epidermis. Although anyone can get skin cancer, exposure to sun and light-colored skin are the biggest risk factors for this type.
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC)
Cancer can also develop in the round basal cells that lie just beneath the squamous cells. BCC is also a common type of skin cancer. The risk factors are similar to those for squamous cell carcinoma.
Innovative treatment approaches
The options for treating skin cancer have improved over the years thanks to the dedication of scientists and participants in clinical trials. Here are some of the innovative treatments that could become widely available in the future:
Photodynamic therapy combines light-activated compounds with nanotechnology to target cancer cells. Scientists are also exploring the possible benefits of combining this type of therapy with other targeted therapies to get even better results.
Researchers are also exploring the use of certain targeted therapies because they can target cancer cells without causing as much harm to other cells. Some examples of targeted therapies under investigation include:
- Bevacizumab (Avastin) helps treat various kinds of cancers and holds promise for treating advanced stage melanoma.
- Gefitinib (Iressa) is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat breast and lung cancers. It may be helpful in treating cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas.
- Erlotinib (Tarceva) is also a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that could help treat nonmelanoma skin cancers.
Sometimes, researchers also explore combinations that include targeted therapies. For example, some research has focused on sorafenib (Nexavar) — a type of targeted therapy that doctors use to treat kidney, liver, and thyroid cancer — in combination with other therapies to determine whether it might be useful in treating melanoma.
Immunotherapy uses your own immune system cells to target and destroy cancerous cells. It’s sometimes called adoptive cell therapy.
For example, an immunotherapy approach is chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T therapy). This type of therapy was used for several years to treat leukemia and other blood cancers, but it’s been extended for use in treating cancers like melanoma.
One particularly promising immunotherapy approach under investigation in melanoma clinical trials is tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy (TIL). Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are a type of immune cell produced by your body. In 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave accelerated approval to an infusion-delivered treatment called lifileucel (Amtagvi). It became the first cellular therapy approved for harnessing these lymphocytes to target solid tumors like melanoma.
Prevention-focused trials
If you know you have a higher risk than usual of developing skin cancer, you might consider joining a prevention trial. This might also include cancer survivors who are susceptible to developing second primary cancers.
Several clinical trials are investigating how using certain types of prophylactic agents could prevent skin cancer from developing or even reverse it. This is called chemoprevention.
The National Cancer Institute usually sponsors a number of prevention-focused clinical trials, both for melanomas and nonmelanoma skin cancers. For example, a nonmelanoma trial might examine how well a skin treatment works to prevent new BCCs.
If you’re interested in exploring a skin cancer clinical trial, talk with your doctor about the next steps. Your doctor can help you find an appropriate trial and answer some of your questions.