The next battle line against melanoma
Boston and Los Angeles researchers have painted the best portrait to date of the resistance mutations that arise from treating melanoma with BRAF and MEK inhibitors.1-4 Although the resistance pathways were known, the new information on the specific activating mutations could translate to improved drug combinations tailored for individual patients.
The melanoma space has undergone a dramatic shift in the last two years, as the long-standing first-line chemotherapeutic dacarbazine was supplanted following the 2012 approval of Zelboraf vemurafenib, a selective BRAF inhibitor from Roche, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. The FDA approved a second BRAF inhibitor, GlaxoSmithKline plc's Tafinlar dabrafenib (GSK2118436), in 2013...