Drug-resistant melanoma tumors shrink when therapy is interrupted
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - 14:00
in Health & Medicine
Researchers have discovered that melanomas that develop resistance to the anti-cancer drug vemurafenib (marketed as Zelboraf), also develop addiction to the drug, an observation that may have important implications for the lives of patients with late-stage disease. Surprisingly, intermittent dosing with vemurafenib prolonged the lives of mice with drug-resistant melanoma tumors, researchers said.