The 7thXiangya International Melanoma Forum was successfully held online on April 24. The forum, which was sponsored by the Dermatology and Venereology Committee of Hunan Medical Association, and the Innovation and Talent Introduction Base of Key Dermatoses Research of the Ministry of Education, was organized by the Department of Dermatology of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Hunan Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease and the Office of Dermatology and Venereal Disease Prevention and Control of Hunan Province. It brought together top academic experts in melanoma research from China, the U.S., Australia, Japan, South Korea and some other countries to deliver excellent academic reports and exchange findings on the frontiers of basic research and clinical translational research, as well as the hot issues on melanoma. The event also attracted nearly 3,000 participants to watch and learn online, making it the largest online conference focusing on melanoma.

As Chairman of the Forum, Professor Chen Xiang, Chairman of the Dermatology Committee of Hunan Medical Association and Vice President of Central South University, delivered an opening speech to welcome the scholars at the forum. He firstly introduced the importance of research on skin tumors represented by melanoma in China as well as solid tumor research worldwide, and announced the opening of the conference. Many professors delivered wonderful academic presentations. They included: Professor Ruth Halaban from Yale School of Medicine; Professor Marcus Bosenberg from Yale University; Professor Xu Xiaowei from Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania; Professor Yan Qin from Department of Pathology, Yale University; Professor Han Leng from Institute of Biosciences & Technology, Texas A&M University; Professor Mien-Chie Hung, President of China Medical University, Chinese Taipei; Professor Sook Jung Yun from Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University; Professor Atsushi Otsuka from Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine of Kyoto University; Professor Michele Teng from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; Distinguished Professor Cui Rutao from Zhejiang University; Professor Shi Hubing from West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Professor Liu Hong, Professor Peng Cong and Professor Yin Mingzhu from Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. The parallel sessions were moderated by: Professor Chen Xiang, Vice President of Central South University; Professor Zhang Chunlei, Director of Department of Dermatology of Peking University Third Hospital; Professor Tao Juan, Vice President of Chinese Medicine Doctor Association and Director of Department of Dermatology of Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Professor Li Chunying, Vice President of Xijing Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University; Professor Li Hang, Executive Vice Director of National Clinical Medical Research Center for Skin and Immune Diseases and Director of Department of Dermatology, Peking University First Hospital; Professor Chen Yong, Deputy Director of the Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Professor Li Tao, Director of the Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Surgery, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital; and Professor Su Juan, Deputy Director of the Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.

Professors at the forum addressed the current research hot topics and academic trends, focusing on international cutting-edge basic, translational and clinical researches, especially on the molecular mechanisms of melanoma development, the development of targeted drugs for melanoma and the clinical application and latest progress of immunotherapy related to immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma. More specifically, two professors from Yale University introduced molecular and clinical characteristics of melanoma as well as the research progress of new immunotherapy; Professor Xu Xiaowei, Professor Yan Qin and Professor Mien-Chie Hung talked about immunotherapy and immunomodulatory mechanism of melanoma from different perspectives; Professor Han Leng introduced how to maximize the role of omics data in precision medicine; Professor Cui Rutao described the progress of small molecule targeted drug development; Professor Shi Hubing discussed the research on drug resistance mechanism in melanoma; Australian experts elaborated the research progress of targeting CD39 in melanoma; professors from Japan and South Korea introduced the latest research progress of their teams on clinicopathological typing, genetic phenotyping, and immunotherapy strategies for melanoma; Professor Peng Cong, Professor Liu Hong and Professor Yin Mingzhu of Xiangya Hospital delivered wonderful speeches on the research progress of CD147 in melanoma, the new strategy of immunotherapy, and the clinical translational study of NHWD-870 in melanoma. Participants learned a lot from rich content and international perspectives of the forum.

Since the first Skin Tumor Forum in 2014, the forum has attracted the attention of many doctors, researchers and collaborators in tumor-related fields. The splendid content, novel and unique way of sharing, and a series of exciting original results aroused heated discussions among the participants and won wide praise. This successful forum promoted academic exchanges in melanoma in China and also facilitated China’s development in this field, which would inspire continuous exploration of newer and better diagnostic and treatment strategies for melanoma, and enhance the overall strength of the Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital as well as our influence at home and abroad.

It is reported that the Department of Dermatology of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, led by Professor Chen Xiang and Associate Professor Su Juan, has taken the lead in building the MDT team of melanoma in China and establishing Xiangya International Melanoma Research Union. Combining with multiple disciplines, the Department of Dermatology has established a standard treatment system for melanoma in various periods, such as publicity and education, patient diagnosis, surgical treatment and postoperative comprehensive treatment. Each year, over 300 new melanoma patients sought medical treatment at the Department of Dermatology of Xiangya Hospital, the number of which ranked first in China. The department took the initiative to explore the technology of double-label imaging of sentinel lymph nodes with dyes and nuclei in China, and established a standard big data collection system and biological sample base for melanoma. Meanwhile, targeting at clinical problems, the melanoma team has basically completed the building of individualized treatment system for melanoma based on computer-aided diagnosis, intraoperative navigation technology of molecular probes, molecular typing of multimodal data, individualized clinical drug use, clinical research of new tumor antigens and drug development based on new targets, etc. Original papers related to melanoma have been published on international authoritative journals, includingNEJM,Cancer Cell,Advanced Science,Nature Communications,Cancer Res, andOncogene.