FDAclears first melanoma drug to

extend survival

By MATTHEW PERRONE

Washington

Federal health regulators have approved a new cancer drug fromBristol-Myers Squibb that is the first therapy to prolong the lives of patientswith melanoma.

It's the first new drug the Food and Drug Administration hasapproved to treat melanoma since 1998. Older medications have shown few resultsin fighting the difficult-to-treat skin cancer.

The injectable drug, called ipilimumab (ih-pee-LEE-moo-mab),uses the body's immune system to help fight cancer. It differs fromchemotherapy drugs which attack the disease with chemicals.

Studies of the drug, which has the brand name Yervoy (Yehr-VOY),showed patients lived an average of four months longer than those taking oldermedications. While only a small group of patients respond to the drug,researchers say it is an important milestone.

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*Ipilimumab (also known as MDX-010 or MDX-101) is a human monoclonal antibody being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb. It is intended to be used as a drug to activate the immune system. Ipilimumab is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of melanoma.

Ipilimumab is a fully human antibody that binds to CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4), a molecule on Helper T cells that is believed to play a critical role in regulating natural immune responses. The absence or presence of CTLA-4 can augment or suppress the immune system's T-cell response in fighting disease. Ipilimumab is designed to block the activity of CTLA-4, thereby sustaining an active immune response in its attack on cancer cells. 

Extract taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipilimumab