Anti-Skin Cancer Drug Shows Promise in U. of P. Tests
It is being called a major breakthrough in the battle against the most serious form of skin cancer -- malignant melanoma.
KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough reports that the University of Pennsylvania is playing a key role in the testing of this new medication.
In the United States, there are about 69,000 new cases of malignant melanoma every year, and 9,000 deaths. Many of these deaths occur if melanoma is not caught early enough and spreads throughout the body.
If caught early, surgery can often be curative. But now there may be a new medication. The drug is so new, it does not have a name.
It's called PLX4032 for now, but it will have a name in short order because in studies it actually shrank tumors throughout the bodies of 80 percent of patients.
The simplest way to explain it is this: there is a molecular abnormality found in about half of melanoma tumors but not in healthy cells. The drug attacks the tumor cells as if there is a bullseye on them. The healthy cells stay healthy.
This is still in the research phase but it is fascinating.
