Duke’s Drug Combo Could Treat a Resistant Melanoma
Researchers at Duke University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center have come up with a drug combination which may provide an effective treatment option for metastatic uveal melanoma, a rare and therapy-resistant form of cancer that originates in the colored part of the eye and spreads to other organs.
The team’s promising drug duo consists of decitabine and interferon gamma which, when used together, appear to cause cancer cell death. Pre-clinical study results using human cell lines from uveal melanoma patients indicated decitabine activated a specific gene known as S100A2 increasing the cancer’s sensitivity to interferon gamma, an immunity boosting protein.
Currently, uveal melanoma can be treated with radiation or removal of the eye if it is detected early enough but, it’s often unresponsive to chemotherapy or other standard treatment regimens once it spreads. After that occurs, a patient’s life expectancy averages six to ten months according to Jared Gollob, MD, a medical oncologist and lead investigator at Duke.
Metastatic uveal melanoma strikes between five and ten thousand Americans each year. Unlike more common forms of melanoma which affect the skin, no proven risk factors or effective treatment options have been identified for the disease.
Findings from this study are published in the September 1, 2007, issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
Source: DukeMed News
Related Links: Siteman Cancer Center; ScienceDaily; GenoMEL CANCER RESEARCH UK; University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center
Related Video: An Alternative Treatment for Eye Cancer from UW Health
Spanish Link: El melanoma intraocular from NCI
Tags: ocular melanoma; rare cancers; Catherine Sciambi; enucleation; Duke University Health System; ophthalmology; Dacogen
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