Highlighting AYA Melanoma Needs at the AAD Innovations Academy

Hi, I’m Reece Moore, a medical student at McGovern Medical School in Houston, TX and am currently pursuing a career as a dermatologist! Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with MD Anderson Cancer Center and Melanoma Research Foundation to study the needs of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with melanoma, and recently was able to present these findings at the AAD Innovations Academy in Chicago, IL in July. 

While at the conference, I was able to discuss the unique burden that melanoma diagnosis and treatment poses to AYAs due to interference with key developmental milestones unique to this age range. With the help of the MRF, we were able to administer a survey across the nation and gather these needs!  

We found that adolescent and young adult males had different needs than their female counterparts. Males wanted to know how their genes led to their melanoma and feared negative treatment side effects, while females wanted to know more about their melanoma diagnosis. Adolescents and young adults who were actively being treated for their melanoma (e.g. on chemotherapy) needed more help with managing fear and having anxiety than those who finished treatment. Lastly, people being actively treated with ICBs (immune checkpoint blockers, or immunotherapy) needed more help with the current and long-term side effects of treatment. 

The conference was such a wonderful experience! I met so many medical students with such unique passions in the field of dermatology, attended various sessions about cutting edge developments in detection and management of melanoma, and enjoyed excursions and scenic tours throughout the beautiful city of Chicago! I am so thankful for all the help the MRF has provided and am honored to have been able to work with such an incredible team to help make an impact on the AYA population!