Melanoma can appear in any anatomical district, even if the main target is certainly the skin.
For further information: Melanoma: What it is, Risk Factors, Classification , without any established cause. In any case, the risk factors may include: familiarity, repeated sunburn over the years, changes in the appearance of freckles, skin diseases, the presence of numerous nevi on the skin, fair skin, light eyes and hair. ; however, a "careful and scrupulous medical observation of the nevi allows us to identify the tumor from the initial stage. Melanoma can appear with a structural modification of a benign mole: this tends to change in terms of size (increase in length, width and thickness). , chromatic (modulation of the natural color of the mole), symmetrical (the mole no longer maintains its typically rounded shape).For further information: Melanoma Symptoms neoplastic. In the event of severe lymphadenopathy, the only possible therapeutic option is complete dissection of the lymph node.
After the surgery, the patient is generally subjected to an adjuvant pharmacological treatment, useful for destroying any remaining cells, not taken during the surgery; yet, supportive care with anticancer drugs can be supported by those patients with an evident risk of relapse.
PLEASE NOTE
Information on melanoma medications is not intended to replace the direct relationship between health care professional and patient. Always consult your doctor and / or specialist before taking any drug or product.
Below are some of the anticancer drugs that can be used in melanoma therapy. It is up to the specialist doctor to choose the most suitable active ingredient and dosage for the patient, based on the severity of the disease, the state of health of the patient and his response to treatment.
Molecular Target Therapy
This type of therapy is based on the administration of drugs capable of targeting a specific protein that has been mutated by the tumor in a precise and targeted manner. However, treatment with this form of therapy is only effective in those patients with melanoma with a mutation in the BRAF V600 gene. The active ingredients used in this area are:
- Vemurafenib (used to treat inoperable or metastatic melanoma; can be used either alone or in combination with cobimetinib);
- Encorafenib (also used to treat inoperable or metastatic melanoma in combination with binimetinib);
- Dabrafenib (always indicated for the treatment of inoperable or metastatic melanoma, either alone or in combination with trametinib).
Monoclonal Antibodies
In some types of melanoma it is possible to intervene with the administration of monoclonal antibodies (immunotherapy). Among the active ingredients that can be used, we remember:
- L "ipilimumab, indicated for the treatment of advanced (unresectable or metastatic) melanoma in adult and adolescent patients 12 years of age and older;
- Nivolumab, indicated in the following cases:
- In combination with ipilimumab in the treatment of advanced (unresectable or metastatic) melanoma in adult patients;
- In the adjuvant treatment of melanoma after complete resection in adult patients.
- Pembrolizumab, indicated in monotone in adult patients:
- In the treatment of advanced melanoma (unresectable or metastatic);
- In the adjuvant treatment of stage III melanoma and involving lymph nodes that have undergone complete resection.
Other anticancer drugs for the treatment of melanoma
Although molecular targeted therapy and immunotherapy are considered as new and more effective therapeutic strategies, in some cases of melanoma the use of anticancer chemotherapy drugs may be useful, such as:
- Dacarbazine, indicated in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma;
- Fotemustine, an antitumor active ingredient belonging to the nitrosurea group indicated in the treatment of disseminated malignant melanoma, including cerebral localizations.
Interferons
Interferon alfa-2B can be used in the treatment of malignant melanoma as adjuvant therapy in patients free of the disease following surgery, but who are exposed to a high risk of systemic recurrence (for example, patients with primary or recurrent lymph node).
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