Thanks to the research that conducted at the University of East Anglia, now there will be a new treatment for the most deadly skin cancer, Melanoma.
Melanoma is the type of skin cancer, the deadly one. This cancer occurs in human pigment cells. Every year, at the United Kingdom there are over 10,000 patients which diagnosed with this type of cancer.
Unlike other types of cancer, the patient number with melanoma continues to rise from year to year. Melanoma can be cured if treated early as possible, but if it’s too late and the cancer already spread to other organs, the chance for recovery is very low.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia may have found a drug that can inhibit the harmful effects of melanoma. Scientists have tested hundreds of the compounds and its influence on the formation of pigment cells in the tadpole.
Along with the Children’s Hospital in Boston, they prove that leflunomide, a drug commonly used for rheumatoid arthritis, can inhibit tumor growth in mice. The most convincing is when leflunomide in combination with new therapies for melanoma, PLX4720, both are able to stop almost all tumors growth.
“This is a really exciting discovery… making use of an existing drug specifically to target melanoma… Deaths from melanoma skin cancer are increasing and there is a desperate need for new, more effective treatments. We are very optimistic that this research will lead to novel treatments for melanoma tumors which, working alongside other therapies, will help to stop them progressing.” Dr. Grant Wheeler, of University of East Anglia’s School of Biological Science, said.
The next step for leflunomide is clinical trials for its use as a melanoma treatment, a process that should be faster than usual since leflunomide is already an approved drug for arthritis. There could be a new treatment for melanoma within five years.
