Study shows positive results with dabrafenib (Glaxo Smith Kline) in Melanoma patients

A new study compared dabrafenib, from Glaxo Smith Kline, with the most commonly used existing treatment, dacarbazine (DTIC), in 250 patients suffering from spreading or inoperable BRAF-positive Melanoma. Half of the patients demonstrated a partial (47%) or complete response (3%) to the treatment in an independent review. By comparison, just 6% of patients treated with DTIC showed an improvement. Progression-free survival was also improved by the new drug, with the group of patients who received dabrafenib experiencing an average (median) progression-free survival time of 5.1 months, as compared to 2.7 months when treated with DTIC. Results suggest that the new drug seems to have similar treatment efficacy and may have some advantages over the existing BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib, which was recently approved by the FDA and the EMA. In particular, the results suggest that the side effects of dabrafenib affecting the skin are less severe than those experienced by patients who are treated with vemurafenib, with the researchers, led by Dr Axel Hauschild of the Department of Dermatology, Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital in Kiel, Germany, noting that very few of the patients in this trial experienced serious side effects. See: "Dabrafenib in BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma: a multicentre, open-label, phase 3 randomised controlled trial." Axel Hauschild et al. The Lancet, June 25, 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60868-X