Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. When discovered early, melanomas can often be cured with surgery alone; however, once melanoma metastasizes to lymph nodes and organs, treatment options are limited and ineffective.
Recently, the FDA approved a new melanoma treatment, ipilimumab (Yervoy). Ipilimumab is an antibody and is thought to enhance the immune system response to melanoma and improve the body’s ability identify and destroy cancerous melanoma cells. This is the first melanoma drug to receive FDA approval in 13 years and is the first treatment proven to improve overall survival for patients with advanced melanomas. Ipilimumab may improve survival by 2 years in some patients.
In a study of 676 patients with advanced, inoperable melanomas published in the New England Journal of Medicine, patients treated with ipilimumab lived 32% percent longer on average.