New drug gives hope to skin cancer treatment

Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York carried out a study on 31 patients who were at the late-stage of skin cancer. They were treated with a new drug PLX4032 that blocks the activity of a gene thought to be involved in the spread of skin cancer, called BRAF gene.

Within two weeks of drug treatment, the researchers observed a "rapid and dramatic" shrinking of the tumors in the cancer patients.

Surprisingly, the doctors involved in the trial had never seen a cancer drug act so quickly and that too in patients at a late-stage of the disease.

Lead researcher Dr. Paul Chapman said, "We've seen responses in patients who didn't respond to chemotherapy before. So far 70 per cent of patients have responded. So that is unprecedented for us."

New drug restricts the cancer genes
So far, Gleevec -- used to treat myloid Leukaemia and gastric cancer -- has been considered as the most successful drug in reducing cancer tumors. However, PLX4032 is the first new experimental drug amid an array of cancer drugs that blocks the activity of cancer causing genes.

Professor Alexander Eggermont, president of the European Cancer Organisation, said, "The new drug is the equivalent of Gleevec in terms of the effect its having in advanced melanoma."

Larger trials needed to test the drug
The researchers who carried out the study said that large scale trials will be needed to test the feasibility of the drug.

They are hoping that if the new drug turns out to be effective in the larger trials, the doctors could use it to treat the cancer-stricken patients in the less advanced stage and it might help them to live healthier and longer.

Commenting on this, Dr. Toby Chave, a consultant dermatologist at Derriford hospital in Plymouth, said, "Up to this point advanced melanoma has been extremely difficult to treat and does not respond well to any existing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

"Prognosis is very poor. The new study shows that there is some response to the treatment which is very encouraging. Even giving patients the hope of a few extra months of life is significant for them."

Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin which can have many causes. It generally develops in the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, so a tumor is usually clearly visible.

It is estimated that, worldwide, around one million cases of skin cancer occur annually.

The study has been disclosed at a major cancer conference organized in Berlin.