Skin Cancer

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. I saw today that there is a drug that patients wit Melanoma can now take, newly approved, called vemurafenib (Zelboraf). Vemurafenib has been hailed as a breakthrough in the treatment of melanoma.

Aug. 17, 2011 — The FDA today approved Zelboraf, a drug that canextend survival for the 50% of melanoma patients whose tumors carry the BRAF V600E mutation.

Zelboraf is approved for inoperable or late-stage melanoma that tests positive for the BRAF mutation. In concert with the drug approval, the FDA also approved a new test for the BRAF mutation.

Skin Cancer Information – SkinCancer.org   Take a Look.

Are you aware of this news?  Jump in Melanoma Cases Expected in 2012 – SkinCancer.org

Zelboraf does not cure melanoma, which this year will kill some 9,000 Americans. But Zelboraf will make a big difference in the lives of BRAF-positive melanoma patients, says Anna Pavlick, DO, co-director of the melanoma program at New York University’s Cancer Institute. Pavlick was one of the investigators in Zelboraf clinical trials.

Good News, but of course a BUMP in the Newly approved drug road.  Today this news came out. “Roughly one-quarter of patients who take the medication develop a troublesome side effect: secondary skin cancers called squamous cell carcinomas.”

US News / HEALTH   Melanoma Drug’s Link to Other Skin Cancers Identified – US News and World Report