Melanoma Treatment Advances
The F.D.A. has recently approved the drug Yervoy, which is the first treatment shown to extend the lives of late-stage melanoma patients. There are indications it may even cure some.
While early-stage melanoma is more easily treated, late-stage cancer has proven more difficult. “Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, killing an estimated 8,700 people annually in the U.S. About 68,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2010, according to the National Cancer Institute. … The Food and Drug Administration on Friday bolstered the skimpy pharmaceutical arsenal against late-stage melanoma by approving Yervoy, the first drug shown to extend the lives of patients with the deadly skin cancer.”
