Why Research Matters – Alexandra Dubinsky

Hear from Alexandra Dubinsky, a 2024 Medical student grant recipient from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation as she expresses the importance of research for pediatric melanoma

Each year, nearly 100,000 adults are diagnosed with melanoma. In contrast, fewer than 500 children are diagnosed with melanoma each year, despite it being the primary skin cancer in pediatric patients. Since melanoma occurs most frequently in adults, much of the research and literature has been focused on adult patients. As a result, we have thorough and comprehensive measures to assess, diagnose, and treat our adult patients. We do not, however, have the same standardized processes for children and teenagers diagnosed with melanoma. This in turn results in longer times to diagnosis, delays in treatment, and sometimes worse outcomes for children and young adults. Our research is aimed at remedying that.

There are many factors used to describe and identify a melanocytic lesion. These include its location on the body, how long it has been there, and its color.  An additional factor is the patient’s age: pediatric melanoma does not often look the same as adult melanoma. Also, many patients and providers are not aware that pediatric patients can get melanoma. Because of these challenges, pediatric melanoma is often caught late and once it is diagnosed, doctors are often unsure about the best ways to proceed with treatment. We know that catching melanoma early and initiating treatment as soon as possible is crucial to positive outcomes in patients, making such delays detrimental.

To work towards standardizing care for children with melanoma, we need an understanding of the biological mechanisms of the disease in children and how this compares to adults. The goal of our research is to discover and understand such biological mechanisms. One mechanism by which cancer cells grow uncontrollably is by preventing their DNA’s protective caps, called telomeres, from getting shorter as they should with each cell division. Our team will explore the role of specific genetic mutations within the telomeres and their binding proteins in pediatric and adolescent melanoma patients.

To do so, we are studying information from pediatric melanoma patients cared for within the Pediatric Melanoma Program at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. We believe that with a better understanding of the biological mechanisms of pediatric melanoma, we can work towards faster recognition and treatment of the disease in children. This is pivotal to improving our care for children and teenagers diagnosed with this disease. The earlier we catch the disease, the better the patient’s outcomes. We are dedicated to improving the outcomes of every young patient diagnosed with melanoma.