This week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) annual meeting wrapped up in Chicago. Thousands of researchers presented studies, but none more significant than those for patients with advanced melanoma.
In one study, for the first time in 30 years, cancer researchers have been able to show an overall survival benefit in a Phase III trial for metastatic melanoma.
This trial studied Bristol-Myers Squibb’s investigational compound, ipilimumab .
It found that patients treated with ipilimumab had improved median overall survival compared to patients treated with the control arm. As Dr. Vernon Sondak of the Moffitt Cancer Center stated, there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel for patients with metastatic melanoma.