2 New Drugs May Treat Advanced Melanoma
2 New Drugs May Treat Advanced Melanoma
June 6, 2011 -- Two new drugs that work in very different ways are being hailed as game changers in the treatment of patients with advanced forms of the deadly skin cancermelanoma.
New studies of the experimental drug vemurafenib and the newly approved drug Yervoy (ipilimumab) were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
The studies show that the two drugs can improve survival in patients who have had few treatment options in the past.
"In advanced melanoma we really haven't had good treatments," says Petra Rietschel, MD, PhD, who directs the Melanoma/Sarcoma Program at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York City. She was not involved with the studies.
"There hasn't been anything, ever, that was proven to prolong survival, and now we have two drugs and probably more on the way," she says.
Precancerous Skin Lesions and Skin Cancer
New studies of the experimental drug vemurafenib and the newly approved drug Yervoy (ipilimumab) were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
The studies show that the two drugs can improve survival in patients who have had few treatment options in the past.
"In advanced melanoma we really haven't had good treatments," says Petra Rietschel, MD, PhD, who directs the Melanoma/Sarcoma Program at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York City. She was not involved with the studies.
"There hasn't been anything, ever, that was proven to prolong survival, and now we have two drugs and probably more on the way," she says.
Precancerous Skin Lesions and Skin Cancer
