New drug fights metastatic melanoma

Compound offers hope for about half of patients with advanced form of the skin cancer

A new drug may change the landscape of melanoma treatment, offering patients a treatment option that goes beyond anything previously used against the skin cancer, new research shows. Tests in people whose melanoma had spread show the drug was able to shrink tumors in most patients and, in a few cases, even wiped the growths out, scientists report in the Aug.