Melanoma hope

摘要

A cancer drug that yielded remarkable results against seemingly intractable advanced melanoma in clinical trials (see Nature 467, 140-141; 2010) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on 17 August. The drug, vemurafenib (Zelboraf), targets cancers that bear a particular mutation in the B-RAF protein. Regulators also approved a test to identify cancers with this mutation. Vemurafenib was developed by the biotechnology firm Plexxikon, based in Berkeley, California, and Swiss drug company Roche.