Hi,
As a newbie to the world of Melanoma, I have seen all sorts of names of immunotherapy and targeted treatment mentioned for stage 3 and 4 patients. Am I correct in thinking that if you are BRAFF positive you can have both targeted and immunotherapy treatments, otherwise, you would just have the latter?
Please could someone give me the manufacturers and common names for the targeted and immunotherapy drugs used in the UK (and whether this differs from the USA). Also, do the drugs differ depending where the melanoma is in your body? And if one treatment doesn't work- would you be tried on another?
Also, what are the top Melanoma hospitals in the north?
Thanks,
Gareth.
Hi Gareth
I've had neither immunotherapy or targeted treatment so don't have any experience to share, but according to Macmillan's page on melanoma "if tests show a BRAF gene mutation in the melanoma cells, you may have a combination of 2 targeted therapy drugs. These drugs are called dabrafenib and trametinib. If tests do not find a BRAF gene mutation, you may have one called ipilimumab, pembrolizumab and nivolumab."
I don't know if different drugs are used in America or if different drugs are used depending on where in the body the melanoma is, but this is the link to Macmillan's page on treating melanoma.
I'm not aware of any hospitals in the country which are considered to be the top hospitals for treating melanoma, but you could perhaps pose this question in the ask a nurse section of the online community.
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