Skin Cancer Research
Getting treated for skin cancer at City of Hope means you are steps away from labs where new treatments for cancer are being developed every day. That proximity means you benefit from something unique in cancer care — bench to bedside treatment. “Bench to bedside” means innovative research we are conducting in our labs is moved quickly to the bedside to treat our patients.
Precision Medicine
Cancers are able to survive and thrive because of genetic abnormalities that keep them from being detected and destroyed by the body’s immune system. Research is revealing the specific mutations (problems within the DNA in a cell) causing these abnormalities and using that information to tailor therapies to specific patients’ tumor cells.
For example, with melanoma, recent advances have revealed specific genetic pathways that drive melanoma development. Our genetics team is on the forefront of new discoveries about why people develop melanoma — and precision medicine techniques allow them to target those problems within cells, and disrupt the process that leads to cancer.
Clinical Trials at City of Hope
Skin cancer is a disease that can act many different ways in the body. Research at City of Hope — driven by patient-specific, individualized treatment strategies — is focused on those differences, and on designing therapies that affect how melanoma develops, progresses and spreads. To refer a patient to one of our clinical trials, please call (626)-218-1133 or visit our Clinical Trials page.
High-Risk Locally Advanced Borderline Resectable or Unresectable Cutaneous SCC
NCT05085496: Principal Investigator Arya Amini, M.D., is actively recruiting for a Phase 1 study to evaluate the benefits of radiotherapy in combination with atezolizumab in treating patients with cutaneous squamous cell cancer (cSCC) that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) that can be removed from surgery (resectable) or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable).
Patient Enrollment Qualifications
- 18 years of age or older
- Confirmed diagnosis of locally advanced borderline resectable or unresectable cSCC and oligometastatic cSCC receiving therapy to the primary
- Life expectancy greater than or equal to 24 weeks
Arya Amini, M.D., is a radiation oncologist specializing in head and neck, skin and lung cancer. Selected as one of the top doctors in Los Angeles in 2020 by Los Angeles Magazine, Amini views taking care of his patients as a true honor and privilege. He says his patients are “the strongest and bravest individuals I have ever met.” The winner of multiple awards and author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications, Amini specializes in all forms of radiation treatment. As a skilled researcher and the recipient of several grants, he leads multiple clinical trials in lung, skin, and head and neck cancer. He is honored to be a part of a multidisciplinary team of experts and trailblazers utilizing leading-edge approaches and clinical trials to improve patient outcomes.