Piérard G E, Nizet J L, Humbert P
Laboratoire de Bioingénierie et d'Imagerie cutanée, Département des Sciences Cliniques, Université de Liège.
Hôpital Saint-Jacques, Service de Dermatologie, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
Rev Med Liege. 2016 Dec;71(12):562-566.
In recent years, new drugs have been designed for treating advanced cutaneous malignant melanoma, in particular the metastases. They afford modest benefits despite the fact they are commonly heralded as breakthroughs in the lay press and by some medical opinion leaders. Unfortunately, the use of inflated descriptors of the drug efficacy leads to misunderstandings among the clinicians in charge of patients. Currently, vemurafenib, ipilimumab, pembrolizumab and nivolumab have demonstrated their relative activity in the control of advanced malignant melanoma. The results expected from surrogate markers of efficacy are magnified and idealized regarding the expectations from many patients. The recent therapeutic advance improves the median overall survival for a few months. Some combined treatments could possibly boost the current beneficial effects.
