Cancer guide
By Cura Editorial Team ·
The most serious skin cancer — but early-stage melanoma has excellent outcomes, and BRAF and immunotherapy have transformed advanced disease.
Recent approvals and trial results — and the questions to ask your oncologist about whether any of it applies to you. Not every option fits every person.
The FDA gave accelerated approval to Tudriqev, a modified virus injected into tumors, with nivolumab for melanoma that stopped responding to PD-1 immunotherapy. About 1 in 4 responded in the IGNYTE trial.
May apply to: Advanced melanoma that progressed on PD-1 immunotherapy
Ask your oncologist:
Source: FDA
Reviewed September 25, 2026.
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The signs that most often lead to a melanoma cancer diagnosis are: a new mole, or a mole that's changing in size, shape, or color; a spot that itches, bleeds, or won't heal; a dark streak under a fingernail or toenail with no injury. Any of these lasting more than a couple of weeks is worth a same-week appointment, even though most turn out to be something else.
See a doctor promptly if a symptom is new, persistent, or getting worse rather than better. Describe when it started, how often it happens, and what makes it better or worse — that detail is what decides whether you get imaging or testing at the first visit.
The most serious skin cancer — but early-stage melanoma has excellent outcomes, and BRAF and immunotherapy have transformed advanced disease. Use the ABCDE rule: Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter, Evolving. BRAF mutation status determines eligibility for targeted therapy. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is standard for tumors thicker than 0.8 mm.
Ask what the exact diagnosis is and how it is staged, what the treatment options are and in what order they would happen, what the goal of treatment is, which side effects to expect, and whether a second opinion or clinical trial makes sense for your situation.
Paste a pathology report, upload a scan summary, or just type the question you'd ask your oncologist if you had more than 15 minutes. Cura will answer in plain language.
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If a start date is on the calendar, or you feel lost between diagnosis and the first infusion, build a first-visit brief on the page: what's known, what's missing, what to ask. Homework, not a treatment plan.
Cura Brief is educational. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan. Confirm everything with your oncology team. If this is an emergency, call emergency services. Email is not an emergency line.
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Waiting for results is its own kind of hard. Cura has a plain-language guide to what the wait actually means — and what to do while you wait.
How long do biopsy results take?