Category: Approved Treatment Options
-
Cancer Drug “Holiday” May Extend Patient Survival
Vemurafenib (brand name Zelboraf) NEW DISCOVERY New research on mice shows that drug-resistant melanoma tumors shrink when treatment is interrupted, or given a “holiday”, suggesting that altering the dose pattern of cancer drug treatment in this manner could be a simple way to extend survival in human patients with late-stage disease. However, only human trials can…
-
Genotype-Selective Combination Therapies for Melanoma Identified by High-Throughput Drug Screening
Drug combinatorial screening was used to identify effective combinations for mutant BRAF melanomas, including those resistant to vemurafenib, and mutant RAS melanomas that are resistant to many therapies. http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2012/12/07/2159-8290.CD-12-0408.abstract
-
What You Need to Know About Interleukin-2 for Metastatic Melanoma
Until three years ago these were our only treatment options. We have come a long way baby. But this is a good overview of the past preferred treatment options. http://skincancer.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/interleukin.htm
-
Exelixis: First Partnered Program Enters Phase III
Roche recently disclosed a decision to start phase III with GDC-0973 (formerly XL518), a MEK inhibitor licensed from Exelixis (EXEL) to Genentech 6 years ago. The trial is expected to start next month, and will evaluate GDC-0973 in combination with Roche’s Zelboraf in patients with BRAF-mutated melanoma. This is an extremely positive catalyst for Exelixis,…
-
Long-Term Data Show Significant Improvement in Survival With Ipilimumab in Melanoma
Nearly twice as many patients with metastatic melanoma who received a combination of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and dacarbazine were alive after four years compared with patients who received dacarbazine alone, suggesting that ipilimumab has long-term survival benefits and that the combination could serve as an effective treatment regimen. The results of the long-term follow-up were presented…