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Report: Melanoma Driven Into Remission by Cancer Chemo
| Author: Tony Cappasso |
| Article Date: 4/27/2008 |
Researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, have for the first time successfully put a melanoma patient into remission using the anti-cancer drug Gleevec. They reported their success in the April 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The case involved a 79-year old patient with melanoma tumors in several areas of her abdomen. Genetic testing of tumor material revealed that it carried abnormalities on a gene called KIT. Armed with this information, the patient’s clinicians enrolled her in a treatment regimen with Gleevec, a drug known to target the KIT gene.
Four weeks after beginning therapy, imaging exams showed a dramatic reduction in tumor size and metabolism: two of the tumor masses had disappeared and several others had shrunken considerably. Four months later, the tumors were still in check, and today, nine months after the start of therapy, she continues to take the drug and her condition remains stable.
KIT mutations are found in only a small percentage of melanomas, so Imatinib does not represent a universal treatment for the disease, Hodi explains. Recent studies have found KIT mutations in 11 percent of acral melanomas (which arise in skin without hair follicles, such as that of the palms, foot soles, and nail beds, and account for 5 percent of all melanomas), 21 percent of mucosal melanomas (which arise in the mucous membranes of some organs), and 17 percent of melanomas arising in chronically sun-damaged skin. For patients with these conditions, particularly those who carry a mutation in a particular section of the gene, Imatinib may well prove beneficial.
Imatinib's effectiveness against tumors with KIT mutations was first demonstrated in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a relatively rare malignancy of the digestive tract. An estimated 75-80 percent of GISTs have KIT mutations, and Imatinib has caused such tumors to stabilize or retreat in 75-90 percent of patients receiving it. In most of these patients, however, tumors eventually begin growing again as they become resistant to the drug.
Although the report involves just one patient, the researchers report, it should inject new confidence in the fight against melanoma. Because previous research has failed to find any genetic Achilles' heels capable of shutting down melanoma cell growth, some researchers had speculated that none may exist for such cells. The discovery of one suggests there may be others.
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology
The case involved a 79-year old patient with melanoma tumors in several areas of her abdomen. Genetic testing of tumor material revealed that it carried abnormalities on a gene called KIT. Armed with this information, the patient’s clinicians enrolled her in a treatment regimen with Gleevec, a drug known to target the KIT gene.
Four weeks after beginning therapy, imaging exams showed a dramatic reduction in tumor size and metabolism: two of the tumor masses had disappeared and several others had shrunken considerably. Four months later, the tumors were still in check, and today, nine months after the start of therapy, she continues to take the drug and her condition remains stable.
KIT mutations are found in only a small percentage of melanomas, so Imatinib does not represent a universal treatment for the disease, Hodi explains. Recent studies have found KIT mutations in 11 percent of acral melanomas (which arise in skin without hair follicles, such as that of the palms, foot soles, and nail beds, and account for 5 percent of all melanomas), 21 percent of mucosal melanomas (which arise in the mucous membranes of some organs), and 17 percent of melanomas arising in chronically sun-damaged skin. For patients with these conditions, particularly those who carry a mutation in a particular section of the gene, Imatinib may well prove beneficial.
Imatinib's effectiveness against tumors with KIT mutations was first demonstrated in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a relatively rare malignancy of the digestive tract. An estimated 75-80 percent of GISTs have KIT mutations, and Imatinib has caused such tumors to stabilize or retreat in 75-90 percent of patients receiving it. In most of these patients, however, tumors eventually begin growing again as they become resistant to the drug.
Although the report involves just one patient, the researchers report, it should inject new confidence in the fight against melanoma. Because previous research has failed to find any genetic Achilles' heels capable of shutting down melanoma cell growth, some researchers had speculated that none may exist for such cells. The discovery of one suggests there may be others.
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology