New melanoma drug records impressive results

A novel melanoma drug known commercially as Zelboraf has been found to nearly double overall survival in the majority of patients, after investigations at 13 centres in the United States and Australia.

More than half the patients who were treated with the drug responded to the treatment and experienced an impressive median overall survival of nearly 16 months. This is a vast improvement on the previous rate of just six to ten months for patients whose melanoma has spread beyond the initial tumor site.

Jeffrey Sosman of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center said: "This study confirms what we have discovered in our earlier trials. Many of our patients are exhibiting a strong, immediate response to this drug and some are living significantly longer, with manageable side effects."

47 per cent of patients had a partial response to the drug and six per cent exhibited a complete response, for an overall response rate of 53 per cent. In 2009 in the UK, 2,633 people in the UK died from skin cancer. Around 2,081 from malignant melanoma and 552 from non-melanoma skin cancer.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths