Using Mouse Avatars Aids Identification of Effective Targeted Therapies for Patients With Melanoma

Source: Oncology Nurse Advisor, January 2015

Using xenograft mice as avatars of patients with melanoma, scientists demonstrated that a previously ineffective targeted drug may be quite potent in halting disease progression in certain patients. Their findings were published in Clinical Cancer Research (doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-1762).

Melanoma often responds initially to a treatment but finds an alternative pathway to grow and spread. Though melanoma accounts for less than 2% of all skin cancers in the United States, the American Society for Clinical Oncology states that melanoma accounts for most of the deaths from skin cancers.

The growth and proliferation of melanoma is due to specific mutations, so targeted drugs such as BRAF inhibitors are an attractive treatment option. Unfortunately, melanoma develops alternatives to survive despite the targeted treatment.