The key to treating cancer could be the body's own immune system
A new study in The New England Journal of Medicine, presented this weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual conference in Chicago, found that two cancer drugs, when taken together, could shrink tumors in patients with advanced-stage melanoma.
In a trial of 945 worldwide patients, researchers found that combining ipilimumab and nivolumab, two drugs that work with the body's immune system, reduced the melanoma tumors of nearly 60 percent of patients. The combination, which spurred the immune system to fight cancer, also prevented melanoma from advancing for almost a year in more than half of the patients studied.
Over the course of a year, 58 percent of the study participants had their tumors shrink by at least a third while taking the two medicines. But while the researchers agree the results are promising, combining the medications also increased patients' side effects, and 36 percent of patients stopped the treatment because of the side-effects. The scientists behind the study are also still researching the immunotherapy treatment's survival rates.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Lift-off in Shetland Islands for UK's first vertical spaceport
Speed reads SaxaVord Spaceport aims to begin rocket launches next summer
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Scotland bids farewell to giant pandas
Speed Read Animals soon to begin journey back to China as loan agreement comes to an end
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published