title: Pharmacotherapy of metastatic melanoma: emerging trends and opportunities for a cure.
abstract: Metastatic melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of cancer and is poorly responsive to standard chemotherapeutics, such as Dacarbazine and Paclitaxel. Recently, the advent of Vemurafenib and Ipilimumab has broadened the spectrum of therapeutic options for advanced melanoma patients but the occurrence of resistance and of high-grade toxicities call for better and more effective treatments. This review focuses on approved and experimental therapies for metastatic melanoma. The mechanism of action and the reported efficacy data for small molecule drugs and biologics are discussed, outlining directions for future pharmaceutical research in this field.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pretto
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017277:Drug Approval; D015195:Drug Design; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: CTLA-4; DTIC; EDB; ERK; GM-CSF; IFN-α; IL-2; IL2; Immunocytokines; Interferon-α; Interleukin-2; Ipilimumab; MAPK; MTD; Melanoma; PD-1R; PD-L1 and 2; PI3K; Vemurafenib; cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4; dacarbazine; extra-domain B of fibronectin; extracellular-signal-regulated kinases; granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; maximum tolerated dose; mitogen-activated protein kinases; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases; programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 and 2; programmed death-1 receptor