I know I said that I would not post, I am Sorry Jim Breitfeller Dr. Kirkwood, Melanoma

I know I said that I would not post, I am Sorry, I can't find Larry anywhere and I am tired of making funny Animals using the projector screen.

So, Let me introduce the team Captain.

Dr. John Kirkwood:

Welcome

John M. Kirkwood, MD

Director, Melanoma Program

"Welcome to the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. As Director, I am committed to providing you with comprehensive information about the most current diagnostic and therapeutic options for the treatment and prevention of melanoma, beyond the general cancer services and resources for patients and their families at the UPCI.

Our mission is to offer the most advanced range of new investigational options in the context of an established program of standard treatment and supportive options for all phases of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The Program provides state-of-the-art treatment for those with melanoma, and is an educational resource for patients and the community regarding the disease; the program provides an environment in which a broad range of scientists dedicated to improving our understanding of melanoma and skin cancers through the application of new drugs, immunological approaches, and specialized imaging have interacted to produce excellence in melanoma research.

The faculty of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program have extensive expertise in the molecular biology and immunology of melanoma, a potentially fatal and increasingly common skin cancer. The Program employs a multidisciplinary approach to the development of new approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of melanoma. Program researchers have a longstanding focus upon the analysis of how the malignant disease develops and progresses, and has made steady progress in the analysis of new treatment agents and combinations with prior treatment agents will work best, and how the elements of the body's defenses can be strengthened. Because of the Program's strong molecular biology and basic immunology research components, patients will have access to the the latest advances in these areas, such as peptide and protein cancer vaccines of several types, new advances with dendritic cells and helper as well as killer T cells, and targeted molecular therapies that promise to enhance the efficacy of new and older drugs upon melanoma. Currently, the Program is the source of multiple new treatments for melanoma, and serves as the hub for national and international studies of highly promising approaches to treatment and prevention.

As a physician and researcher, I've learned that the more we are able to understand about this disease, the better our treatment and prevention of melanoma will become. The outpatient clinics and laboratories of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program faculty are highly integrated, across multiple disciplines ranging from Dermatology and Surgery to Medicine and Radiotherapy, with integral involvement of Imaging through Radiology and Pathology. I believe that the scientific and clinical prowess of the combined Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program have substantially already improved the outcome of melanoma, and that we are now developing the tools to cure and prevent melanoma and other skin cancers for yet larger numbers of our patients. At the Melanoma Program we provide an ever expanding pipeline of the latest treatment and prevention options for patients with melanoma and other skin cancers."

Thank you Dr. Kirkwood.

Jimmy B