By Janine Rauscher | Director, Development Operations
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and our collaborators at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals in Boston and Providence, and at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), have assembled the largest-ever case-control cohorts for acral (N=1,200), mucosal (N=520), and uveal melanomas (N=2,010). Comparing features of patients with rare melanoma compared to cutaneous melanoma or ‘no-cancer’ control cases, we have identified several factors associated with risk or protection for each rare melanoma subtype. Importantly, among Veterans, we have found an association among Agent Orange exposure increased risk for acral melanoma (JAMA Dermatology, Mar 2026). In uveal melanoma, we found that smoking increased the risk of uveal, while patients with autoimmune conditions seemed to be protected, or had a reduced risk, of developing uveal melanoma. The team continues the work resubmitting the mucosal melanoma manuscript for publication. The team presented work on all three subtypes at the ASCO 2026 conference (May 29-Jun 2, 2026). ASCO is the world’s largest oncology conference with more than 40,000 participants. The final remaining work – looking at any risk associated with inherited genes – is being completed in summer 2026.
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