The American Society of Clinical Oncology will hold its annual meeting in Chicago this week where it will announce results of several studies investigating the use of immunotherapies for the treatment of melanoma.
Many of the immunotherapies used in the treatment of cancer are antibodies generated in a laboratory. These “monoclonal antibodies” bind to select portions of the immune system to alter the way the immune system responds to cancer cells.
Ipilimumab is one immunotherapy developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) that has gained significant attention. Ipilimumab is a human monoclonal antibody that is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of melanoma. Results from three small trials found that ipilimumab extended the life of stage IV melanoma patients.
(Tremelimumab another monoclonal antibody produced by Pfizer was being investigated for the treatment of advanced melanoma, but a phase III trial was stopped in 2008 when interim data showed that results were not superior to standard chemotherapy)
So this treatment is the closest to a cure so far? On average how long was the patient’s life “extended”?
Melanoma has been notoriously difficult to treat once it has reached advanced stages. Lots of hope thrown at potential treatments that, over time, proved to offer little over placebo. That there is noew a treatment that offers any significant advances in terms of survival is a tremendously helpful step forward. By “significant”, that means even a month or two. It would not be appropriate to even begin to think of this as a step towards a cure. It is, however, meaningful and should help lead to the development of even more effective ageints.
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