Prof Fergal Kelleher, Consultant Medical Oncologist, SJH and TUH appointed Chair of the Skin Cancer Disease Specific Subgroup, Clinical Trials Ireland

Prof Fergal Kelleher, Consultant Medical Oncologist, St James’s Hospital and TUH appointed Chair of the Skin Cancer Disease Specific Subgroup, Clinical Trials Ireland

Cancer Trials Ireland has recently appointed Fergal Kelleher as Chair of the Skin Cancer Disease Specific Subgroup.

A graduate of UCC Prof. Kelleher is a Consultant Medical Oncologist practicing in St. James Hospital and TUH with a Clinical Academic Commitment to Trinity College Dublin. He trained in this area at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne under the mentorship of Prof. Grant McArthur (MB, PhD, Order of Australia) who is one of the foremost experts in melanoma.

Currently there are three clinical trials open in St. James Hospital for patients with melanoma. These include the MK-7684A-010 Trial for adjuvant IIB -IV resected melanoma, and a second trial R3767-ONC-2011 in unresectable locally advanced or metastatic melanoma. Finally, there is the MelMarT-II study assessing optimal margins of surgical excision for melanoma with Ms. Marlese Dempsy leading this surgical study at the St. James site.

These are exciting times in skin cancer with the introduction of new therapeutics. CTI’s and the Skin DSSG’s aim is to increase their portfolio of trials in number and diversity of treatment targets. For example, there are decades of failed cancer vaccine trials in melanoma. However, the CTI Skin DSSG considers the potential of mRNA vaccines in melanoma a priority area for future trial access with promising results already described.