FUTURE PERSPECTIVES IN MELANOMA RESEARCH. Meeting report from the “Melanoma Research: a bridge from Naples to the World. Napoli, December 5th–6 th2011”

Paolo A Ascierto, Antonio M Grimaldi, Brendan Curti, Mark B Faries, Soldano Ferrone, Keith Flaherty, Bernard A Fox, Thomas F Gajewski, Jeffrey E Gershenwald, Helen Gogas, Kenneth Grossmann, Axel Hauschild, F Stephen Hodi, Richard Kefford, John M Kirkwood, Sancy Leachmann, Michele Maio, Richard Marais, Giuseppe Palmieri, Donald L Morton, Antoni Ribas, David F Stroncek, Rodney Stewart, Ena Wang, Nicola Mozzillo, Franco M Marincola

After more than 30 years, landmark progress has been made in the treatment of cancer, and melanoma in particular, with the success of new molecules such as ipilimumab, vemurafenib and active specific immunization.After the first congress in December 2010, the second edition of "Melanoma Research: a bridge from Naples to the World" meeting, organized by Paolo A. Ascierto (INT, Naples, Italy), Francesco M. Marincola (NIH, Bethesda, USA), and Nicola Mozzillo (INT, Naples, Italy) took place in Naples, on 5-6 December 2011. We have identified four new topics of discussion: Innovative Approaches in Prevention, Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment, New Pathways and Targets in Melanoma: An Update about Immunotherapy, and Combination Strategies. This international congress gathered more than 30 international faculty members and was focused on recent advances in melanoma molecular biology, immunology and therapy, and created an interactive atmosphere which stimulated discussion of new approaches and strategies in the field of melanoma.