Detecting melanoma before it becomes visible is a major challenge in dermatology. Now, with researchers from Université de Montréal, scientists at Université du Québec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) have developed a promising solution tested on mice.

Called SMEAR-ULM, it’s a high-tech system that can detect skin cancers at their earliest stages by measuring tiny temperature variations at the surface of the skin. Led by INRS professor Jinyang Liang, the research team’s findings are published in Nature Sensors. 

The work was carried out in close collaboration with several research teams, including ones led by INRS professor Fiorenzo Vetrone and, at UdeM, pharmacology professor Davide Brambilla and medical professor Sylvain Meloche. 

The potential impact of the work is significant, the scientists say. 

Preclinical studies at the Salk Institute laid the foundation for a question now being tested in patients: Can a vitamin D-based therapy “reprogram” a pancreatic tumor’s protective microenvironment, making tumors more vulnerable to therapeutic treatments? A clinical trial led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute now demonstrates that a synthetic vitamin D analog can be administered safely in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy and effectively reprogram the supporting pancreatic tumor microenvironment. This work also provides early evidence that vitamin D analogs can enhance chemotherapy response and improve survival, especially in patients with high tumor vitamin D receptor expression.