Posted on 12/16/2022 5:35:50 PM PST by ConservativeMind
A new multidrug treatment for patients with stage IV melanoma has proven effective after a three-year clinical trial.
The study was aimed at overcoming the immune suppression that occurs in some patients with metastatic melanoma—skin cancer that has spread to organs like the lungs.
"We know immunotherapy is effective, but it doesn't work for everybody. Sometimes the tumors suppress the immune system and prevent the immune reaction," says Martin McCarter, MD.
"We are very interested in trying to overcome this immune suppression, and by studying our melanoma patients at the cancer center we identified a particular cell population, called myeloid-derived suppressor cells, that plays a role in melanoma-induced immunosuppression."
The drug trial was designed to specifically target myeloid-derived suppressor cells and determine if that could improve immune responses to standard therapy.
The CU study examined the combination of the common immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a chemotherapy drug that targets myeloid-derived suppressor cells. In results just published, the researchers found that the drug combination is effective, with an overall response rate of 71%. Fifty percent of patients experienced a complete response, and the one-year overall survival rate was 80%.
"For comparison purposes, pembrolizumab alone in this patient population achieves around a 40% response rate," says McCarter. "Combining that with ATRA and getting to a 71% response rate—that's potentially a huge advance. That is as good as you see with the best combination immunotherapy regimens out there."
The good news about the pembrolizumab-ATRA combination is that it does not contribute to increased toxicity, he says. The most common side effect is a headache that goes away once the treatment is complete. The results are very promising for metastatic melanoma patients who currently don't have many options if traditional immunotherapy is not successful in treating their cancer.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
A complete response is usually considered “complete remission,” and not necessarily a cure, until proven out, over time.
If it works, make it and jack the price up exorbitantly (for Americans).
As someone who was blessed with a PathC/R (complete response) from FLOT chemo on stage three stomach cancer it is great to see these improvement across the board for a variety of cancers now. Credits to all the hard work our oncologists and researchers.
Melanoma is still a somewhat underrated cancer in terms of danger.
As example I still see tanning beds and they should have been banned long ago (or severely restricted).
Some guy throws a 40-yard pass. Folks call him a hero. Some guy hits 3 for 3 in a playoff game. Folks call him a hero.
Wrong. The heroes are the people who are doing this research work.
I studied melanoma back in the day, and like kidney cancer, there are (rare) spontaneous remissions where, seemingly, the body attacks the cancer.
This is really great news for a really terrible cancer.
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