NEW MELANOMA DRUG

It's exciting to announce a new drug approval, especially one with such promising potential.

As a Fort Myers cosmetic surgeon, I am very aware of the threats associated with melanoma skin cancer. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer than can move to other locations in the body, in other words, metastisize. About half of the metastatic melanoma cancers have a mutation in the BRAF gene.

A new drug that targets that specific BRAF mutation was recently approved by the FDA. Its use was found to double the survival lifespan of people with that type of metastatic melanoma.

Tumors shrank in 30% of patients while the progression of the disease was stopped or slowed in another 33%.

The name of the new drug is Zelboraf. You can read more about it here.