title: New therapeutic options for advanced non-resectable malignant melanoma.
abstract: Melanoma is a malignant tumor which is inclined to metastasize promptly into the lymphatic system and other organs such as lung, liver, brain or bone. Therefore early diagnosis remains crucial for improving clinical outcome for melanoma patients. Current chemotherapy and chemo-immunotherapy regimes have shown little clinical benefit with no improvement in overall survival. However, new advances in melanoma biology such as the discovery of predisposed gene signatures and key somatic events have changed clinical practice. New therapeutic approaches are being tested or have been approved by the FDA/EMA recently including targeted therapies, such as BRAF- and MEK-inhibitors, and novel immunotherapies, such as anti-CTLA4 or anti-PD1 therapies. For these therapies an improvement of progression-free and overall survival has been seen in patients with advanced non-resectable melanoma. The following review summarizes recent therapeutic options after the ASCO and ESMO annual meetings 2014 for the treatment of malignant melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stadler
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Kasia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weina
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gebhardt
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany. Electronic address: jochen.utikal@umm.de.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utikal
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Immunotherapy; Melanoma; Metastasis; Targeted therapy; Treatment