ISRAEL - Breakthough in Skin Cancer Research

Although Israel has a relatively high incidence of melanoma compared to many countries—partly due to frequent sun exposure (intentional when getting a sunburn) or unintentional, and the prevalence of unprotected fair skin among many residents—the mortality rates are relatively low thanks to early detection and good treatment outcomes.

According to the Health Ministry, there are between 1,700 and 2,000 new diagnoses of this type of skin cancer in Israel every year. Worldwide, there are about 200,000 cases—half of them noninvasive and the rest invasive—with some 8,000 deaths per year.

But there is good news: A major achievement with far-reaching implications for treating deadly skin cancer has been discovered by Tel Aviv University scientists and colleagues. They discovered a mechanism that allows melanoma cancer cells to paralyze immune cells by secreting extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are tiny, bubble-shaped containers secreted from a given cell. The research team believes that this discovery has far-reaching implications for possible treatments for melanoma.

This dramatic breakthrough was led by Prof. Carmit Levy of the human genetics and computational medicine department at TAU’s Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences—in collaboration with research teams from the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Hadassah-University Medical Center, Rabin Medical Center, Wolfson Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, the University of Liège (Belgium), Massachusetts General Hospital, Paris-Saclay University, and the University of Zurich.

The study’s findings have just been published in the prestigious journal Cell under the title “HLA export by melanoma cells decoys cytotoxic T cells to promote immune evasion.”

-www.jpost.com 10 January 2026

Commentary: Once again, we see how Israel’s health outcomes are excellent despite “a relatively high incidence of melanoma compared to many countries,” as mentioned in the article. Their scientific advances far exceed the country’s miniscule size, not to mention the war/terrorist threats they face daily from all sides.

It is of interest that besides the US, various European countries have teamed up with Israel on these studies, including Belgium, France and Switzerland. It reminds one of Daniel 2:43: “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” The Jewish people have always attempted to form good relationships with Western—i.e., Roman, the fourth Gentile superpower—nations. Yet in the end, they will not be part of them but will always be separate: “And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken” (Deuteronomy 26:19).