Researchers were initially thrilled with the response from patients with metastatic melanoma who were taking the recently approved drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf), but have been alarmed by the development in some of those patients of a different, secondary skin cancer, namely squamous-cell carcinoma.
Zelboraf, a twice-daily pill, works by blocking the mutated BRAF protein in melanoma cells that encourages tumor growth. Unfortunately, in some patients this same mechanism sets off a cellular cascade in other skin cells and can accelerate the carcinoma as well.
According to research published in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, about one half of melanoma patients have the BRAF mutation and are amenable to Zelboraf treatment. One quarter of those patients are developing the squamous cell carcinoma.
Fortunately, the squamous cell carcinoma can be removed and patients taking Zelboraf are not needing to discontinue treatment.
Source: Therapeutics Daily
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