The FDA has just approved a new drug for hard-to-treat melanoma.
Opdivo is for those whose skin cancer has not responded to previous treatments, including Yervoy. Opdivo is a PD-1 blocking antibody, similar to Keytruda, another drug approved only a few months ago.
This class of medications is a radical new approach to cancer treatment since it alerts the immune system to the presence of tumor cells. Too often in advanced cancers, the tumor has camouflaged itself so that the immune system leaves it alone. PD-1 stands for programmed death receptor, a way that cancer cells escape notice by the immune system.
The drug is expected to cost about $12,500 a month. Other new melanoma drugs are also shockingly expensive, as we have discussed. Side effects include fatigue, itching, nausea and diarrhea.
Photo credit: Yale Rosen CC license, cropped
