Melanoma Awareness Month: Why the Work Is Far from Done
Melanoma Awareness Month is a moment to reflect on how far cancer care has come over the past decade and to recognize how far it still needs to go. In melanoma, progress is real. Advances in immunotherapy have changed outcomes for many patients and helped extend survival.1 But even with that progress, a gap still remains. Melanoma continues to be a complex and evolving disease with unmet need—and for many patients, the journey is still defined by uncertainty.
Melanoma Awareness Month is often associated with prevention and early detection, and for good reason. Education and awareness can directly save lives because when melanoma is found early, it is highly treatable.2 At the same time, early detection doesn’t happen equally for everyone. Barriers like limited access to dermatology care and gaps in awareness mean that some patients are still diagnosed later, when the disease is harder to treat.3
Progress has revealed new challenges
Melanoma has been a key focal point of cancer innovation, particularly in harnessing the immune system to fight disease. Research continues to show that while immunotherapy has transformed care, challenges remain.4,5
Not all patients respond to treatment.
Some experience recurrence or progression after initial success.
And others face forms of melanoma that are more difficult to treat with more limited options.4
This is what defines the unmet need today: Despite meaningful progress, important gaps in treatment persist.
At Moderna, we have an important opportunity to explore a different approach to melanoma. mRNA technology can enable therapies to be developed based on the unique biology of a patient’s tumor using recent scientific advances. While this work is still evolving, it builds on the idea that a better understanding of a patient's tumor could lead to an individualized treatment approach.
Awareness and Action
Melanoma Awareness Month is ultimately about more than information. It’s about action. For individuals, regular skin self-checks are important, especially for those at higher risk. Watch for new or changing moles, spots, or bumps, particularly on sun-exposed areas like the face, neck, and arms. Protect your skin by using sunscreen, limiting sun exposure, and avoiding tanning beds. For the scientific community, it means continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible.
While scientific progress has changed the treatment of melanoma, significant challenges remain. Continued research, new technologies, and sustained innovation are what will define the next chapter.
1 Sorino C, Iezzi S, Ciuffreda L and Falcone I (2024) Immunotherapy in melanoma: advances, pitfalls, and future perspectives. Front. Mol. Biosci. 11:1403021. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1403021
2 https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/melanoma-101/early-detection-of-melanoma/
3 https://www.curemelanoma.org/blog/advancing-early-melanoma-detection
4 Knight A, Karapetyan L, Kirkwood JM. Immunotherapy in Melanoma: Recent Advances and Future Directions. Cancers (Basel). 2023;15(4):1106. doi: 10.3390/cancers15041106.
5 Fallarino F, Blank CU. Lessons from neoadjuvant immunotherapy in melanoma: understanding antitumour immunity and tumour escape. Nat Rev Immunol. 2026;26(2):152-162. doi: 10.1038/s41577-025-01222-w.