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New Melanoma Drug Approved

An expensive new medicine will treat advanced melanoma by activating the immune system against the tumor.

The FDA has just approved a new drug for hard-to-treat melanoma.

Opdivo is for those whose skin cancer has not responded to previous treatments, including Yervoy. Opdivo is a PD-1 blocking antibody, similar to Keytruda, another drug approved only a few months ago.

This class of medications is a radical new approach to cancer treatment since it alerts the immune system to the presence of tumor cells. Too often in advanced cancers, the tumor has camouflaged itself so that the immune system leaves it alone. PD-1 stands for programmed death receptor, a way that cancer cells escape notice by the immune system.

The drug is expected to cost about $12,500 a month. Other new melanoma drugs are also shockingly expensive, as we have discussed. Side effects include fatigue, itching, nausea and diarrhea.

Photo credit: Yale Rosen CC license, cropped

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About the Author
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist who has dedicated his career to making drug information understandable to consumers. His best-selling book, The People’s Pharmacy, was published in 1976 and led to a syndicated newspaper column, syndicated public radio show and web site. In 2006, Long Island University awarded him an honorary doctorate as “one of the country's leading drug experts for the consumer.”.
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