Australian researchers discover combination of drugs can stop melanomas in their tracks
Trials conducted in Sydney proved successful in preventing the disease from spreading in stage three patients
Researchers have said a combination of new treatments can stop the world’s deadliest form of skin cancer – melanoma – in its tracks and halt its spread to other organs.
Results from two international drug trials conducted by the Sydney-based Melanoma Institute Australia proved successful in preventing the disease spreading in stage three patients whose tumours had been surgically removed.
Until now, these patients were at a high risk (40 to 70 per cent) of the disease becoming advanced and fatal.
This will change how melanoma is treated around the world, as we no longer have to passively wait to see if the melanoma spreads
“Results from these clinical trials suggest we can stop the disease in its tracks, effectively preventing it from spreading and saving lives,” the institute’s medical director Georgina Long said in research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Our ultimate goal of making melanoma a chronic rather than a terminal illness is now so much closer to being achieved.”
One in every three cancers diagnosed is a skin cancer, according to the World Health Organisation, with Australia having among the highest incidences of melanoma in the world. One Australian dies from it every five hours.
While 90 per cent of people can be cured by having the primary cancer removed through surgery, it spreads in the other 10 per cent because it is detected too late.
“These results will change the way we treat melanoma patients as well as their quality of life,” Long said.