Focus on Melanoma Meeting 2026

BMS Sponsored Symposium:
The Dual I-O Duel: Default or Deliberate?
Chair:  Dr Heather Shaw, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and University College London Hospital

Speakers:
– Professor Hussein Tawbi, Professor of Departments of Medical Oncology & Investigational Cancer Therapeutics and Director of Melanoma Clinical Research and Early Drug Development, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre
– Professor James Larkin, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Royal Marsden Hospital, London

Welcome/Introduction
Dr Mark Harries, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Chairman of Melanoma Focus

Melanoma Focus: Achievements and Plans
Dr Mark Harries and Susanna Daniels

Session 1: the Microbiome: More than a Gut Feeling
Chair: Dr Pippa Corrie, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

How Our Microbiome Influences Immunotherapy Response and Toxicity and Is Now A Therapeutic Target In Its Own Right
Dr Trevor Lawley, Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute 

Prebiotics, Probiotics and Antibiotics – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 
Professor David Pinato, Clinical Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 

Q&A

Break

Session 2: Clinical Trials Update
Chair: Professor Sarah Danson, Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Sheffield & Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Ocular Melanoma – Where Are We, What’s Coming Down the Line?
Dr Joe Sacco, Consultant Medical Oncologist, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Surgical Research Update – Margins, Sentinel Nodes and Optimal Timing
Professor Marc Moncrieff, Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Q&A

Session 3: Debate: We’re Prescribing Far Too Much Adjuvant Systemic Therapy!
Chair: Dr Kate Young, Consultant Medical Oncologist, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

FOR: Dr Becki Lee, Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist & Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust & The University of Manchester

AGAINST: Dr Brent O’Carrigan, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Lunch

The Professor Martin Gore CBE Memorial Lecture
Introduction – Dr Mark Harries, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Chairman of Melanoma Focus

Professor Hussein Tawbi, Professor of Departments of Medical Oncology & Investigational Cancer Therapeutics and Director of Melanoma Clinical Research and Early Drug Development, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre
Neo-Adjuvant Therapy in Melanoma as a Translational Science and Drug Development Platform

Session 4: Pathology Informing Practice
Chair: Dr Pavlina Spiliopoulou, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in
Medical Oncology, The University of Glasgow and The Beatson, West of Scotland Cancer Centre

Digital Pathology – Current Status and Implications for Neoadjuvant Therapy for Resectable Melanoma 
Dr Emily Clarke, Clinical Lecturer & Histopathology Registrar, University of Leeds

Mucosal Melanoma – Lessons from Canine Cancer
Professor Kelly Blacklock, Professor of Small Animal Tissue Surgery, University of Edinburgh

Q&A

Session 5: MDT: Mucosal Melanoma MDT and Cases
Chair: Professor Rowan Pritchard Jones, Consultant Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon and Associate Dean of Professional Practice, University of Liverpool
– Mr Myles Smith, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, The Royal Marsden, NHS Foundation
Trust
– Dr Pavlina Spiliopoulou, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical
Oncology, The University of Glasgow and The Beatson, West of Scotland Cancer
Centre
– Dr Mark Stares, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Medical Oncology, University of Edinburgh

Closing Remarks

Drinks Reception and Networking