MDNews - Long Island

A NE WER CL ASS OF MEDICATIONS THAT ENABLES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO IDENTIF Y AND AT TACK DISE ASED CELLS IS TR ANSFORMING THE WAY CLINICIANS FIGHT ADVANCED MEL ANOMA. AT THE HE AD OF THAT CHARGE IS THE DRUG PEMBROLIZUMAB. DE SPITE A DVA NCE S IN awa reness, detection a nd treatment , mela noma c o n t i n u e s t o c l a i m a n e s t i m a t e d 10,000 lives each yea r, accordi ng to the A merica n Ca ncer Societ y — even though it accounts for just 1 percent of a ll skin ca ncer cases. CALL AND RESPONSE Immunotherapy for mela noma treat- ment grew out of the need for a treatment option that offered long-lasting results for patients w it h meta static ca ncer. T hou g h chemot her apy ca n be u sed t o t reat mel a nom a , it i s not a lway s effective or well-tolerated, especia lly a mon g older pa t ient s . A s r e s e a r c h i nto treatment prog ressed, ta rgeted t herapies were developed to ex ploit the link between cellula r mutation a nd expression of mela noma ca ncer cells. New medications that suppressed the expression of mutations, such as BR A F in hibitors a nd C-K IT gene-ta rgeted t herapies, showed prom i se. But t he rapidly mutating nature of mela noma mea nt these a lso had limited success. " We would get ver y good responses i n it i a l ly [w it h t a r get e d t her a pie s] , but t he mela noma wou ld come back w it h i n mont h s a nd w it h t he s a me out comes," say s A nt on i R iba s, M D, Ph D, Professor of Medicine, Surger y a n d Me d ic a l Ph a r m a c olo g y a t t he Universit y of Ca lifornia Los A ngeles. " We knew that occa siona lly, patients whose i m mu ne s ystem s ha d t u r ned a rou nd a nd at t a cked t he mela noma could do well long-term, yea rs later." T h a t i n s i g h t l e d r e s e a r c h e r s t o i nvest i gat e t he mecha n i sm used by some mela noma ca ncer cells to block i m mu ne si g n a l s t h at t el l T c el l s t o attack the ca ncer. " You r b o dy h a s a lot of d i f fer ent w ay s t o t u r n of f t he a c t iv it y of it s ow n i m mu ne s y s t em ," s ay s L ou i s e Perk i ns, Ph D, Ch ief Science Of f icer of the Mela noma Resea rch A l lia nce, who g uides the organization's strategic investing in melanoma research. "There a re these norma l sig na ls to hide from the immune system sur veillance, and it turns out, melanoma and other cancers have them, too." O nc e mel a nom a c el l s i n a t u mor turn on the prog ra mmed death liga nd 1 or 2 ( PD -L1 OR PD -L2) chem ica ls t hat send misinfor mation to T cel ls, the immune system becomes blind to t he t u mor, identi f y i ng it a s f r iend ly t i s sue i n s t ea d of a rapid ly d iv id i n g a nd mut at i n g i nva der. R esea rchers Drug Alters Approach to Treatıng Advanced Melanoma BY VALERIE LAUER 2 4 S P E C I A L F E A T U R E

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