Antibodies for melanoma
A drug has been created that increases the chances of life in the fight against melanomaABC Magazine
Scientists from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania evaluate the results of their work as a breakthrough in the fight against the deadliest form of skin cancer – melanoma. The drug they created significantly increases the survival rate of patients in the last stages of the disease.
The active substance ipilimumab (na -mab, from monoclonal antibodies, the names of drugs based on monoclonal antibodies – VM traditionally end) stimulates the immune system and thus counteracts the development of cancer. The FDA has confirmed the data presented, so doctors hope that the drug may be available for use in practice by the end of this year.
The study involved 676 people with metastatic inoperable melanoma who had already gone through various treatment options. During the experiment, patients received one of three types of therapy: ipilimumab separately; ipilimumab with additional immunostimulating therapy; only immunostimulating therapy.
After 2 years, 24% of patients from the first and second groups were alive, while only 14% of patients from the third group remained alive. The average survival with ipilimumab was 10 months. When using other types of treatment, the same indicator is 6 months for 67% of patients. True, 10-15% of patients had serious side effects that doctors associate with ipilimumab, but even in this case, the effectiveness of the new drug exceeds mortality in treatment without it.
Doctors hope that the use of the new drug at earlier stages of the disease will bring better results.
Melanoma is the most severe form of skin cancer. Last year alone, approximately 68,720 new cases and 8,650 deaths were reported in the United States. Every year, 50 thousand people die from melanoma in the world.
Melanoma progresses faster than any other cancer, explains one of the project leaders, Dr. Stephen Hodi from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. When a tumor penetrates into vital organs, it practically means a death sentence for the patient.
Article by F.S. Hodi et al. Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma published 05.06.2010 in the preliminary online version New England Journal of Medicine.
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