19 March 2020
In 2019, over 15,200 Australians were diagnosed with melanoma. Australia has one of the highest incidence rates of melanoma in the world, but there has just been some good news for sufferers…
Trialed at the GMRF Clinical Trials Unit and other sites around the world, a new immunotherapy treatment has just been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. The treatment reduced the risk of cancer recurring by 50%, and it’s now available as a standard treatment for melanoma patients around the country.
“Patients with this stage of disease used to have surgery and then wait and be monitored to see if the melanoma came back,” Principal Investigator of the trial at GMRF, Dr Victoria Atkinson says.
“Now they have an option to be treated in advance of this outcome due to the international clinical trial research that was conducted here with my patients at Greenslopes Private Hospital and the GMRF team.”
The treatment is an adjuvant therapy, meaning it is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. According to Dr Atkinson, the treatment effectively ‘mops up’ remaining cancer cells after surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer returning.
GMRF is continuing to conduct a number of clinical trials in melanoma treatment. View our currently recruiting clinical trials.