Drug therapy keeps skin cancer away for five years

A new drug therapy available to Irish patients is being hailed as a cure for skin cancer which, up to now, had a very poor prognosis.

The therapy has been described as a “game-changer” by oncologists at the European Cancer Congress, under way in Amsterdam.

Prof John Crown, an oncologist at two Dublin hospitals, said it was “exciting times” for both skin cancer patients and the doctors who treat them.

Prof Crown, who is at the congress, said long-term data was presented which showed an immune system- boosting drug called Ipilimumab, or “Ipi” produced “really good results” in the minority of patients with secondary malignant melanoma or skin cancer.

“Malignant melanoma, when it becomes secondary [spreads] is a terrible disease with really poor outcomes.

“However the data showed that if the cancer stays away for two to three years, then it’s likely to stay away for five years. So what we have is 20%-25% of patients with otherwise categorically incurable malignant melanoma alive five years later.”

Even more exciting, he said, were the possibilities that using a combination of Ipi and another drug called Anti-PD1, seemed to offer. Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology showed tumour shrinkage or disappearance of a tumour in patients given a combination of both Ipi and Anti-PD1.

Prof Crown said Irish patients can access the treatment through the All Ireland Co-operative Oncology Research Group, which gives access to treatments not available outside of the clinical research arena. This includes patients at Cork University Hospital. Prof Crown said the results of the data presented this weekend “needed to be confirmed quickly”, and hopefully would be by 2015.

Ipi, which costs €40,000, is available to patients in Ireland, but it took a campaign, spearheaded by Cathy Durkin, before the HSE agreed to fund it. Ms Durkin subsequently died.