Cargando…

Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs

BACKGROUND: Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and it is estimated that 76,250 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin in the USA in 2012. Over the last few decades many drugs have been developed but only in 2011 have new drugs demonstrated an impact on survival in met...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Velho, Tiago Rodrigues
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Just Medical Media Limited 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3885142/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24432031
http://dx.doi.org/10.7573/dic.212242
_version_ 1782298717762617344
author Velho, Tiago Rodrigues
author_facet Velho, Tiago Rodrigues
author_sort Velho, Tiago Rodrigues
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and it is estimated that 76,250 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin in the USA in 2012. Over the last few decades many drugs have been developed but only in 2011 have new drugs demonstrated an impact on survival in metastatic melanoma. METHODS: A systematic search of literature was conducted, and studies providing data on the effectiveness of current and/or future drugs used in the treatment of metastatic melanoma were selected for review. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of these agents, evaluating past, current and future clinical trials designed to overcome such limitations. RESULTS: To date, there are four drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for melanoma (dacarbazine, interleukin-2, ipilimumab and vemurafenib). Despite efforts to develop new drugs, few of them have demonstrated any clinical benefits. Approved in 1975, dacarbazine remains the gold standard in chemotherapy, although ipilimumab and vemurafenib have raised many hopes in the last few years. Combining dacarbazine or other chemotherapy agents with new pharmacological agents may be a new way to achieve better clinical responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. DISCUSSION: Advances in the molecular knowledge of melanoma have led to major improvements in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, providing new targets and insights. However, heterogeneity amongst study populations, different approaches to treatment and the different melanoma types and localisations included in the trials makes their comparison difficult. New studies focusing on drugs developed in recent decades are warranted.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3885142
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher Just Medical Media Limited
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-38851422014-01-15 Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs Velho, Tiago Rodrigues Drugs Context Review BACKGROUND: Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and it is estimated that 76,250 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin in the USA in 2012. Over the last few decades many drugs have been developed but only in 2011 have new drugs demonstrated an impact on survival in metastatic melanoma. METHODS: A systematic search of literature was conducted, and studies providing data on the effectiveness of current and/or future drugs used in the treatment of metastatic melanoma were selected for review. This review discusses the advantages and limitations of these agents, evaluating past, current and future clinical trials designed to overcome such limitations. RESULTS: To date, there are four drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for melanoma (dacarbazine, interleukin-2, ipilimumab and vemurafenib). Despite efforts to develop new drugs, few of them have demonstrated any clinical benefits. Approved in 1975, dacarbazine remains the gold standard in chemotherapy, although ipilimumab and vemurafenib have raised many hopes in the last few years. Combining dacarbazine or other chemotherapy agents with new pharmacological agents may be a new way to achieve better clinical responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. DISCUSSION: Advances in the molecular knowledge of melanoma have led to major improvements in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, providing new targets and insights. However, heterogeneity amongst study populations, different approaches to treatment and the different melanoma types and localisations included in the trials makes their comparison difficult. New studies focusing on drugs developed in recent decades are warranted. Just Medical Media Limited 2012-11-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3885142/ /pubmed/24432031 http://dx.doi.org/10.7573/dic.212242 Text en © 2012 Velho TR. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0) which allows unrestricted sharing, copying and distribution for personal use provided it is properly attributed. Commercial use is not permitted.
spellingShingle Review
Velho, Tiago Rodrigues
Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title_full Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title_fullStr Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title_full_unstemmed Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title_short Metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
title_sort metastatic melanoma – a review of current and future drugs
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3885142/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24432031
http://dx.doi.org/10.7573/dic.212242
work_keys_str_mv AT velhotiagorodrigues metastaticmelanomaareviewofcurrentandfuturedrugs