This week, The New York Times published a series of three articles about the roller-coaster of excitement and frustrations surrounding a promising new drug therapy for melanoma.  The series follows the trials, successes and tribulations of a targeted drug, PLX4032, which is specifically beneficial only  to those with a B-RAF gene mutation spurring their cancer.

It’s important and excellent reading.

Dr. Flaherty with clinical trial patient

Randy Williams, 46, who drove 600 miles from his home in Jonesboro, Ark., to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to get the experimental drug, rolled out of bed. “Something’s working,” he thought, “because nothing’s hurting.”

It was a sweet moment, in autumn 2008, for Dr. Keith Flaherty, the University of Pennsylvania oncologist leading the drug’s first clinical trial. A new kind of cancer therapy, it was tailored to a particular genetic mutation that was driving the disease, and after six years of disappointments his faith in the promise of such a “targeted” approach finally seemed borne out. His collaborators at five other major cancer centers, melanoma clinicians who had tested dozens of potential therapies for their patients with no success, were equally elated.

But the titles of each article in the series give away the plot:

After Long Fight, Drug Gives Sudden Reprieve

then

A Roller Coaster Chase for a Cure

and finally:

A Drug Trial Cycle:  Recovery, Relapse, Reinvention.

My takeaway:

With no significant change in the treatment of advanced stage melanoma in over twenty years this is a great break through. But it’s not the end.  It’s the beginning of the end. With a long road to follow.

Still early detection avoids the need for these treatment and the possibility of treatment failure. So, be vigilant. Check your skin and the skin of the people you love. Reduce your risk factors. See your dermatologist on a regular basis.  Have your MoleSafe procedure.