My Malignant Melanoma

GSK's "me-too" BRAF drug is showing great promise. Now there are three drugs which look far more effective than the (hardly effective at all) DTIC which has been the only approved drug for so long. May we all live long enough to not have to fear recurrence! Of course, this is all the more reason not to go the alternative route.

In an unfortunately related issue, I managed to get my CT scan booked ahead of schedule, but the oncologist will not move my appointment forward. Must be nice to be so relaxed about the issue.

Labels: BRAF, GSK, Trial

I hear a rumour from fellow patients that GSK's "me-too" BRAF inhibitor is better than PLX4032. It seem that this is partly because of the account given by this MM patient as to the lack of a complete cure given by PLX4032.

I have heard a few other anecdotal accounts from patients on BRAF trials of this nature, but these do not contradict the previous trials at all. Only a very few people in the initial trials got a complete response. Whilst overall response was way higher than for the gold standard DTIC, this is a promising cancer drug. The very best cancer drugs we have for any cancer cure a tiny fraction, and give others a bit more time, ideally with a reasonable quality of life.

Back when I was diagnosed there was just DTIC, with its 15% response rate, and no chance of a cure. Now we may have a number of drugs with up to a 60% response rate and a small chance of a cure. Progress has seemingly been made.

We can't tell a thing from internet anecdotes in the meantime, other than the drugs aren't a complete bust so far. I can remember some promising-looking drugs which anecdotes made clear in short order were not going to hit the mark.

Labels: BRAF, GSK, PLX4032