Straightforward trustworthy advice for malignant melanoma patients and carers
Frequently Asked Questions: What experimental treatments are there for melanoma?
Allovectin-7 -Immune system booster, Phase 3 trial had positive results. Note that this is a genuine immune system booster, unlike the stuff people sell on the internet.
Ipilimumab -Antibody targeting CTLA-4-this is the only drug so far shown to prolong life, available both via open UK trials and for compassionate use
OncoVEX -A modified virus carrying a helpful gene, looks promising so far, there is an open UK Phase 3 Trial.
PLX4032 -BRAF inhibitor - early trials showed high response rates but it seems that these responses may be short-lived, supporting the anecdotal reports which have been circulating on cancer patients' boards.
Then there's Glaxo's "me too" B-RAF and MEK inhibitors, presently in Phase 3 Trials. (MEK inhibitors work on a different link in the chain which B-RAF lies on, and similarly require B-RAF mutant tumours to work)
It might be that combination therapy with two of these agents would be more than twice as good as any on their own. Though it required drugs companies to cooperate instead of competing, a trial of the combo treatment is about to open. Note that these are all trial agents, not shown to work reliably and safely for melanoma in people yet.
You can see what trials doctors are are running at the moment here, here and here The last two sites are worldwide, but are often more up-to-date than the UK site under the first link