title: Novel agents in development for the treatment of melanoma.
abstract: In 2005, melanoma is estimated to affect 55,000 Americans. Of these, 7700 are estimated to die from the disease. Immunological approaches have yielded the only newly FDA-approved agents for melanoma in 30 years, which includes high-dose bolus IL-2, based on durable responses in some patients with metastatic melanoma. A survival advantage was shown in two of three randomised clinical trials with high-dose IFN-alpha2b in the high-risk adjuvant setting. However, both agents are associated with high cost and toxicity rates. A number of novel therapeutic agents are undergoing active clinical investigation. The more promising of these will be discussed in this review, including bcl-2 antisense therapy, v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homologue B1 inhibition, heat-shock proteins, anti-alphavbeta3 integrin monoclonal antibody, thalidomide and newer immunomodulatory drugs, and anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 monoclonal antibody.
authors: Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors: Ahmad A
authors: AA
authors: Tarhini
authors: Sanjiv S
authors: SS
authors: Agarwala
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D015507:Drugs, Investigational / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015507:Drugs, Investigational