A new drug is touted to increase the lifespans of patients with the deadliest type of skin cancer. Merck's Keytruda can reportedly extend melanoma patients' lives for at least three years.
Keytruda belongs to a new batch of genetically engineered medicines based on antibodies, CBS News reported (via the Associated Press). The drug treats melanoma, or the deadliest type of skin cancer, that has reached other organs in the human body.
How The Drug Works
Keytruda, also called as pembrolizumab, works by blocking the development of programmed cell death, or PD-1, proteins, which stops the body's immune system from destroying cancer cells. Around 40 percent of melanoma patients stayed alive for three years after taking Keytruda.
Keytruda was approved as treatment for advanced melanoma in 2014. According to Dr. Caroline Robert, the lead author of a study working on Keytruda's effects, 85 patients remain free from cancer aside from the 40 percent survival rate for three years.
Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said the Keytruda treatment is promising, the AP further reported. This means the drug can be used along with other immunotherapy drugs while cancer is just starting. Aside from U.S. markets, Keytruda has been released in about 40 markets like the European Union.
Other Treatments For Skin Cancer
Opdivo and Yervoy are also used for treating advanced melanoma. The two drugs' effects will be amplified when they are combined, Immuno-Oncology News wrote.
Opdivo blocks PD-1 while Yervoy works differently by preventing a molecule called CTLA-4, or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen, which also stops the body's immune system from fighting deadly cancer cells. Emmanuel Blin, the head of Commercialization, Policy and Operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said the Opdivo and Yervoy Regimen is the first and only approved combination for treating cancer.
According to SkinCancer.org, melanoma can be cured if diagnosed in its early stages. The disease can spread to other parts of the body if left untreated. When this occurs, melanoma is harder to cure and can potentially kill the person suffering from the condition.
Melanomas are commonly brown or black in color, but it also appears as pink, tan and white, the American Cancer Society listed. Some of the causes of melanoma and other types of skin cancer are prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation, pale skin, multiple or odd moles, weak immune system, past severe sunburns and old age. The American Cancer Society believes that nearly 77,000 individuals will have melanoma this year while 10,000 people will be dead due to the fatal disease.
