Two new drugs extend survival for melanoma patients

[mickeyd]

Good news for those of us who have had to tangle with skin cancer. Not a cure but a help.

For the first time, patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer have two new treatment options that prolong survival, according to new research presented at a cancer conference in Chicago on Sunday.
One drug specifically targets a mutated gene that tells a cancer cell to grow, the other boosts a patient's immune system in the fight against the disease. Both drugs cause tumors to shrink and prolong survival for patients with melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body, but neither is a cure.
"This is an unprecedented time of clinical options -- it is truly practice-changing," said Dr. Lynn Schuchter, who heads the Melanoma Center at the University of Pennsylvania and is not involved with the research.

Two new drugs extend survival for melanoma patients - CNN.com

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

This drug was in use where I used to work - promising mostly for it's potential; the survival benefit is really quite small at this point but until now advanced melanoma has had no known effective treatment.

Hopefully as more is learned about it and refined versions emerge it will be a real advance. Conceptually it is very interesting.