Skin Cancer: Drug Couple "to eliminate 20% of tumors"

One-fifth of people with melanoma have no evidence of tumors after treatment in the body with a pair of immunotherapy drugs, research shows.
The first data on survival and nivolumab Ipilimumab use in combination showed 69% of patients in the trial to 142 were still alive after two years.
British doctors, leading the court said that the results were "very encouraging."
Melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the UK
It kills more than 2,000 people in the UK every year.
These separate studies on melanoma immunotherapy pembrolizumab Merck also showed an increase in survival.
The product also works by reducing the immune system brakes.
The results of the early stage of the trial, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed a third of patients lived for 12 months with no signs of the tumor grow.
Immunotherapy revolution
The immune system is a powerful protection against infection. However, there are a lot of "brake", built to stop it attacking its own tissues.
Cancer - which is a corrupt version of the healthy tissue - can use these brakes to avoid an attack.
Ipilimumab and nivolumab designed to cut off the brakes.
Both have become standard in the treatment of melanoma, but most researchers believe combination therapy would be important.
The study found the survival rate after two years for Ipilimumab alone was 53% and tumor No patient had completely disappeared.
The corresponding figures for the combination therapy was 69% and 22%.
Nevertheless, more than half of the patients had severe life-threatening side effects that stopped treatment.
Dr. James Larkin, who ruled part of the test Marsden Hospital Royal in London, told the website BBC News: "It is very encouraging to see that the level of survival.
"It will be important in terms of development for the benefit of these therapies in the long term, but nevertheless it is a relatively small study so far."
A much larger study involving nearly 1,000 patients have already begun to produce data, but do not work long enough to produce survival rates.
Vicky BrownImage copyrightRoyal Marsden
Vicky Brown, 61 from Cardiff, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma that has spread to her lungs and chest in April of 2013.
She began a combined treatment later in the year.
"He worked for a month. There were lumps I could actually feel, and they disappeared pretty quickly," she told the BBC.
She did have serious side effects, including liver disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease, and a year later the cancer was back.
It is now in its second year of combined immunotherapy, which again seems to reduce swelling.
"My granddaughter is now coming up to four, and now I have a second grandson had not been part of their lives would have been heartbreaking, so I'm very grateful," she added.
Before and Afterimage copyrightRoyal Marsden
captionMelanoma image, before and after therapy
Historically, when treatment fails and the cancer begins to grow again, the fact that the drug becomes useless. But Dr. Larkin said that "we are dealing with something different here."
He added: "This combination of drugs alters the balance of the immune system, the immune system down the line in two years, may no longer recognize the tumor.
"For me it's very encouraging, giving a combination of back, we can re-recognition of the immune system - is a booster."
Both drugs have been developed Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Professor Richard Marais, from Cancer Research UK, said the results were "exciting" and "offer new hope to patients with melanoma and their families."
However, he added: "It is important to remember that there is an increased chance of serious side effects when these drugs are combined.
"We need to determine which patients are likely to benefit from the combination, as well as patients who are likely to experience side effects.
"This will help the doctors to ensure that each patient receives the best treatment that they need."