Treatment Booster for Metastatic Melanoma Discovered, Making Them Less Toxic

(Photo : a-mblomma )
A potential treatment booster was discovered by a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati

Tradition is something absolute for some culture and cannot be re-written or revised. But in science, you might get some frowning from your fellow scientists, but it will be acceptable if you back it up with studies and evidence. Soma Sengupta, MD, Ph.D., a clinician scientist from the University of Cincinnati, says that the new findings of her study with Daniel Pomeranz Krummel, Ph.D. might have recognized drug that can be a treatment booster in enhancing the effectiveness of therapies in treating metastatic cancer, making them less toxic, giving the patients a chance to live a better quality of life and survival.

ALSO READ: Early Morning Exercise May Reduce Risk of Cancer, Study Suggests

According to Dr. Sengupta, Melanoma is a serious skin cancer that evolves from the skin and eyes' pigment cells. She added that millions of people in the United States live with this type of cancer, and an increase in the incidence is expected to increase. She added that physicians could easily treat melanoma on the skin. However, she said that treating metastatic melanoma, a melanoma that starts spreading on other parts of the body, frequently the brain is a lethal cancer is a different story. She furthered that patients accepting immunotherapy do not positively respond, simultaneously impacting their health with uncomfortable side effects affecting their living.

Method of the study

Including team members from Columbia University, University of Wisconsin, and Emory University, Dr. Sengupta said that their recent study shows that by targeting a specific neurotransmitter receptor with the use of sedatives in association with Valium or Xanax, immunotherapy and radiation cancer treatments could be increased to have a better effect in cancer patients reducing its side effect. The researchers added that the study was conducted on animal models, but they hope that they could soon conduct studies in patients with metastatic cancer.

Results

Researchers found that adding the drug infiltration of immune cells on the tumor significantly improved, enhancing the treatment's efficacy, which allowed the cells to fight melanoma, resulting in the tumors shrinking. In some cases, it completely disappeared. According to Dr. Sengupta, is to add the new class of drugs to the radiation and immunotherapy treatment to the patients. The researchers added that they are hoping to ease the side effects on patients getting the treatment. They also stressed that more study is needed to validate the findings, but the new approach is promising.

Traditional Treatments

According to Cancer.net, traditional treatment recommendations depend on many factors, including the thickness of the primary melanoma, whether it has spread, its stage, and the presence of specific genetic changes. Among the treatments offered to skin melanoma patients is surgery in which a surgical oncologist removes the tumor and some surrounding healthy tissue. Skin Cancer Foundation added that immunotherapy could also be done to stimulate the patient's immune system in destroying cancer cells. They added that this treatment has noteworthy development in treating patients with advanced melanoma. According to the American Cancer Society, immune checkpoint inhibitors are an important part of immunotherapy where the drug targets the checkpoint proteins, which restores the immune response against melanoma cells.

The treatment developed by the research team will be very beneficial for skin melanoma patients and will play a vital role in improving their living and survival.

Check out more news and information on Melanoma on MD News Daily.