Treatment of metastatic melanoma
Despite the initial surgery and possible adjuvant therapy, some melanomas recur and metastasize. Sometimes metastases are detected already when the melanoma is diagnosed, and these cannot be treated with surgery. In this case, we speak of metastatic melanoma.
A significant number of patients can live for up to years without the metastatic melanoma causing difficult symptoms. Some patients may even recover from metastatic melanoma, but close follow-up is needed to ensure this.
If there is only one metastasis, we select the treatment form in accordance with the location of the foci. Metastasis can be treated with medication, surgery, local therapies, or radiation therapy.
The purpose of immunological drug therapy is to release the body’s own defensive cells to attack the melanoma cells. This is triggered by infusing one or two antibodies into a vein every few weeks.
Antibody therapy is well tolerated by most patients, and serious adverse effects do not occur. However, in some patients, the awakened defensive cells attack their own healthy cells, causing various inflammatory conditions in the thyroid, skin, lungs, intestines, joints or liver, for example. If the inflammation is severe, you will need drug treatment to control the inflammatory reaction.
In some melanomas, a mutation in the BRAF gene is detected, for which targeted drugs are available as tablets. In most patients, tumors become smaller or even disappear quickly with medication. Treatments with one or two tablets will continue as long as they keep the disease under control. Typical disadvantages of treatment include fever, fatigue and joint and skin symptoms.
Chemotherapy is also used in the treatment of melanoma. Chemotherapy is suitable for patients who are not diagnosed with the BRAF mutation in the melanoma cells or who have a serious autoimmune disease which is usually an obstacle to immunological treatment.
The treatment of metastatic melanoma has developed significantly in recent years, and the development work continues at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is possible that you may be offered the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial to receive a new medicine that is still under development.