Australian
researchers have reported promising results with a new drug that shrinks brain
tumors in advanced cases of melanoma.
Australian researchers have reported promising
results with a new drug that shrinks brain tumors in advanced cases of
melanoma.
In a recent issue of The Lancet, the
researchers show for the first time that Dabrafenib also shrinks secondary
tumors (metastases) in the brains of patients with advanced forms of the
disease.
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes –
cells that are responsible for the color of our skin. In advanced cases, the
tumors can spread to the liver, bones, lymph nodes, and commonly to the brain.
Most patients with brain metastases die within four
months.
When the team tested Dabrafenib on patients with
metastatic melanoma in a Phase I dose-escalation trial, they showed that the
brain tumors in nine out of ten patients shrank within the first six weeks of
treatment. What was more surprising was that all ten patients survived beyond
five months, and two patients survived beyond 12 months. One patient survived
to 19 months.
In 50 percent of human melanomas, an activating
mutation in the BRAF gene has been linked to an excessive growth of melanoma
cells. Dabrafenib works by directly binding to and blocking the aberrantly
activated BRAF protein. A reduction in melanoma cell proliferation causes the
tumors to shrink and disappear.
According to Dr. Georgina Long, lead author of the
study, there is currently no effective systemic treatment for melanoma brain
metastases, and patients whose cancer has spread to the brain are frequently
excluded from promising clinical trials.
“Until now, there has not been a single drug that
has shrunk brain metastases in more than 10 out of 100 patients with metastatic
melanoma. This drug had a 90 percent success rate in reducing the size of brain
metastases,” Long said.
Dr. Long believes that their positive findings may
pave the way for more targeted melanoma treatments and offer new hope for
patients with metastatic melanoma worldwide.
The article can be found at: Falchook GS et al. (2012)
Dabrafenib in patients with melanoma, untreated brain metastases, and other
solid tumours: a phase 1 dose-escalation trial.
Source: University of Sydney.
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