Abstract
Incidence of malignant melanoma has been increasing since the 1980s. For loco-regional stages, surgery is still the best treatment. Melanoma has a high distant metastatic potential and prognosis of advanced stages was until recently very poor. Since 2011 however, a real revolution has taken place in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. This is based upon considerably improved knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of melanoma and cancer immunology. Thus, two new classes of systemic therapeutic agents are now available: immunotherapies (immunological checkpoint inhibitors), which increase the antitumor immune response, and targeted therapies (BRAF and MEK inhibitors) for patients with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma. Overall survival is now 2 years or above, with hope for a cure in some cases. Unfortunately, the efficacy of these treatments is incomplete and many studies are underway to try to identify predictive biomarkers, and multiple combinations are being evaluated to increase response rates. The efficacy of these treatments has also been shown in the adjuvant setting in high-risk melanoma, they should be available shortly.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.