Melanoma advanced stage : targeted treatments before surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence

nikolasvn/epictura

Published the 19.01.2018 at 08h35

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mélanomethérapie cibléeimmunotherapiesurvie

Cutaneous melanomas account for 10% of cancers of the skin. They come either from the transformation of cancer from a mole they appear on healthy skin (in 70% of cases).
To treat these cancers, an association of targeted treatments before surgery would decrease drastically the risk of relapse, according to a study published in The Lancet Oncology. Researchers from the university of Texas in the United States have shown that this type of combined treatment with chemotherapy and post-surgical reduces six-fold the risk of recurrence.

A hope for patients with a high relapse rate

“These results are encouraging for patients with melanoma stage 3 in surgically resectable, which are exposed to a high rate of relapse and progression to metastatic disease,” explains Rodabe Amariah, the lead author of the study.
The study was launched in October 2014, 84 patients have been recruited. It was the first time that a major study was conducted on the interests of the associations of targeted treatments before surgery for melanoma stage 3. The results are so positive that the study has been stopped before having had the need to recruit 84 patients planned.

Prolongation of the period of recurrence

In melanomas of stage 3 the risk of recurrence ranges from 40% to 80%, depending on whether it is a stage B or C. most of The time the relapse occurs within the first year following the surgery, at the end of three years, the risk is less than 5%.
For the 14 patients who had a combination of targeted therapies before surgery, the median time to recurrence was 19.7 months, compared with 2.9 months for those who have not had the treatment, pre-surgical, but only post-operative chemotherapy. But only 4 have experienced a recurrence of the melanoma.

For seven patients, the therapy pre-surgery allowed for a complete response, that is to say, an absence of active cancer found during surgery, and none experienced relapse.