Immunotherapy Given Before Target Therapy Improves Advanced Melanoma Survival Rates
A new clinical trial has found that the order in which cancer treatments are administered can be the difference between life and death in people with advanced melanoma. The study, published September 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found a clear benefit for those who received immunotherapy before targeted therapy to treat their skin cancer — so much so that the trial was stopped early.Investigators found that for patients with melanoma who have a mutation in the BRAF gene, specifically a BRAF V600 mutation, immunotherapy is the better initial approach than drugs that specifically target this mutated pathway.Advances in Treating Metastatic Melanoma Have Been ‘Nothing Short of Remarkable’Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, and it develops in about 1 in 38 white people, 1…