The new immunotherapies changing the war on malignant melanoma
Source: UCLA Health, January 2025
While melanoma is relatively rare, accounting for only 1% of all skin cancer cases, rates of melanoma have been rising rapidly over the past few decades. It is responsible for the majority of skin cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.
But treatments have undergone a dramatic shift, thanks to groundbreaking advancements in immunotherapy. Today, many patients who would have faced an uncertain future are living longer, healthier lives, a transformation largely driven by pioneering research led by Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD.
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“When I started treating cases of melanoma that had metastasized to other organs, maybe 1 in 20 responded to treatment,” said Dr. Ribas, who directs the Tumor Immunology & Immunotherapy Program at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
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. “It was the worst of the worst cancers.”