Experimental Treatments Show Promising Results Against Skin Cancer
Two new experimental treatments against advanced melanoma have shown promise in keeping the deadly skin cancer at bay. The British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline developed and tested two agents, known as Dabrafenib and Trametinib, against standard chemotherapy treatments.
322 people were included in the Trametinib trial, of whom 214 took the experimental drug with the remainder participating in standard chemotherapy. More than 22 percent of those on Trametinib responded compared to only eight percent in the chemo group. Additionally, the Trametinib group experiences a median 4.8 month period in which their cancer did not advance, simultaneously decreasing their perceived risk of dying by 46 percent compared to the chemo control group.
According to Caroline Robert, the head of Dermatology at the Institute Gustave Roussy in Paris, ”Trametinib is likely to become another first-line treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma.”
II have a scar on my right cheek from a large mole removed when I was three years old. It was itchy and the bumpy red part bled when scratched. Turns out it was Basal Cell Carcinoma.