A new melanoma drug was just approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – the first new drug approved for the disease in 13 years. The drug – ipilimumab – will be sold under the brand name Yervoy and works to stimulate the immune system in late-stage melanoma patients.
Melanoma patients being treated at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center have had access to the drug on a trial basis for the past two years. “This news is very exciting and holds great promise for the care of patients with advanced melanoma. Hopefully, this will fuel further advances in molecular targeted therapies for melanoma, giving our patients more treatment options,” says E. Ramsey Camp, MD, Director of MUSC’s Jenny Sullivan Sanford Melanoma & Skin Cancer Program.
MUSC’s Jenny Sullivan Sanford Melanoma & Skin Cancer Program is the only comprehensive melanoma treatment program in South Carolina. The program treats patients from all over the Southeast has been designated a Melanoma Center of Excellence (MCE) by the Melanoma Hope Network.
For more information see:
MUSC’s Dr. Paul O’Brien Discusses Yervoy with The Post and Courier
More on Yervoy from CNN
