New drug 'extends life expectancy for patients whose melanoma has metastasised to the brain'

New data revealed at the International Meetings of the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) shows that a new drug treatment has proven successful in treating patients whose skin cancer has spread to the brain. Vemurafenib has been found to be a successful treatment in extending life expectancy for patients whose melanoma has metastasised to the brain by more than six months when compared to chemotherapy treatment. 

Half of the patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma with brain metastases have only, on average, a life expectancy of up to six months. Vemurafenib has been found to extend life expectancy to around 6.47 months in patients that suffer from previously untreated brain metastases and around 6.41 months in those patients that have been previously treated.  

Author of the study and consultant medical oncologist from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, UK, Doctor Paul Nathan, said: “Advanced melanoma is an aggressive cancer affecting many patients who are in the prime of their lives. Melanoma is one of the most likely cancers to spread to the brain and unfortunately the outcome for these patients is currently very poor. Therefore, these data represent an encouraging step forward in providing new treatment options for patients with brain metastases.”  

Testing of the drug is continuing, although further data suggests that it is successful at also extending the life of patients with BRAF metastatic melanoma to beyond a year. Overall survival rate for those that are treated with vemurafenib was shown, in data from BRIM3, is 13.6 weeks in comparison to the 9.7 months for those treated with chemotherapy. 

Doctor James Larkin, UK BRIM3 lead researcher from the Royal Marsden, said: “The availability of a personalised therapy represents a step change in the way we now manage metastatic melanoma, and these new data continue to show how vemurafenib helps patients survive longer. This increasing clinical and real-world experience with vemurafenib is helping us better understand treatment options for this aggressive form of cancer.”