Drug mix promising in melanoma study

GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s combination of two experimental drugs for patients with advanced melanoma produced unexpectedly promising results in an early study, benefitting all 16 patients treated.

The pills target two different genetic mutations that drive growth of melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer. Both have been shown individually to help combat melanoma in patients with a mutation known as BRAF V600, found in about half of all melanomas. Researchers hope giving the medicines together will help control the disease in more patients for a longer time.

The first stage of the study found no dangerous interactions between the drugs when they were both given to seven patients. The second step showed the combination helped prevent the cancer from worsening in three patients and shrunk the tumors in another 13, according to a report presented today at the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.

Drugs being developed by London-based Glaxo and Roche Holding AG, based in Basel, Switzerland, have shown some benefit for patients, though it doesn’t last long, said Jeffrey Infante, director of drug development at the Sarah Canon Research Institute in Nashville.

Patients getting both drugs had fewer side effects, such as rashes and skin lesions, than seen in earlier studies of each given alone. They are now being tested together in another 50 patients at varying dosage levels, Infante said.

Melanoma strikes 68,000 Americans each year, according to the American Cancer Society. While patients with early stage disease respond well to treatment, the five-year survival rate for those with cancer that has spread is 15 percent.