Vol 13, No 6 (2017)
Review paper
Published online: 2018-01-04
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Treatment of BRAF+ melanoma in light of current drug programs

Piotr Rutkowski1, Tomasz Świtaj
DOI: 10.5603/OCP.2017.0036
Oncol Clin Pract 2017;13(6):275-280.

Abstract

The past decade has seen significant advances in the understanding of molecular pathogenesis of cutaneous melanoma. Currently, mutations of BRAF oncogene have been a well established and powerful predictive role as validated target in recently developed molecular targeted therapy for melanoma. It has been proven in a number of studies that the effective treatment for this group of patients consists of the combination of a BRAF inhibitor and MEK inhibitor, two such combinations are currently registered and reimbursed in Poland — vemurafenib and cobimetinib, dabrafenib and trametinib. Median progression-free survival (PFS) exceeds one year for BRAF and MEK combined therapy, and overall survival (OS) reaches approximately 2 years. Currently, the first line therapeutic option for BRAF-mutated advanced melanoma include also immunotherapy with anti-PD-1 antibodies (combination of PD-1/CTLA-4 blockers can be an option in a specific group of patients, although not reimbursed in Poland).

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