Melanoma cases to double over next decade

The number of melanoma cases will double over the next 10 years, presenting attractive opportunities for drug companies to improve on existing poor and outdated standards of treatment.

That’s according to a report by industry analysts Datamonitor, which suggests that by 2019 the number of melanoma cases could hit 230,000 spread throughout Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain the UK and the U.S. Melanoma is already the fastest growing cancer, with rates in Australia the worst in the world.

Current treatments for the disease typically employ either cytotoxic agents or cytokines, neither of which has been shown to induce response rates of more than 25 percent, with negligible benefit to overall survival rates. Mortality rates for melanoma are worse than for most other cancers.

However, according to Datamonitor healthcare analyst and report author Tom Gray “there are several promising candidates in late-phase development that could change the face of melanoma treatment”.

The report cites 11 key products currently in development, noting that ipilimumab (MDX-010; Medarex/Bristol-Myers Squibb) and PLX-4032 (Plexxikon/Roche) appear to offer the most promise. MAGE-A3 ASCI (astuprotimut-r; GlaxoSmithKline) is aimed at patients with tumors that over express MAGE-A3, while PLX-4032 is being targeted to those patients with V600E BRAF mutations.

Mutations in the BRAF gene have been of interest for melanoma researchers for some time, however, there had been questions as to whether drugs targeting it may be effective for other reasons. The high profile failure of BRAF inhibitor sorafenib in clinical trials added to doubts. However, a breakthrough study published by the Wellcome Trust this month showed that drugs inhibiting the gene greatly increase chances of survival.

Local biotech Patrys this month submitted an application to commence human clinical trials in Australia of its PAT-SM6 natural human antibody, also designed to target the BRAF gene. The company reports that PAT-SM6 has potential applications across several cancers but has been shown to be especially effective at killing melanoma cancer cells and binding to 100 percent of all melanoma patient tumours screened. The molecule also targets GRP78, a protein on the surface of cancer cells found to be linked to the aggressiveness of the disease and shorter survival times.

Datamonitor says that the next generation of systemic treatment will focus on compounds that target specific molecular pathways, which may or may not be unique to individual patients. More personalised approaches to melanoma treatment have already started to emerge, reflecting an improved understanding of gene expression in cancer treatment.

“The Phase III studies for several pipeline products are recruiting patients based on tumour gene expression, which will help to increase apparent efficacy by targeting only those most likely to derive benefit from treatment,” said Gray. “Any pipeline drug that shows a survival benefit in randomized Phase III trials is very likely not only to receive marketing approval, but also to be adopted very quickly as the new standard of care, with accompanying high uptake”.