Good news is on the horizon for people battling advanced melanoma, a serious skin cancer. New research reveals that over half of patients with this aggressive cancer are now living for at least ten years thanks to a powerful combination of two immunotherapy drugs. This is a major shift from the past, when the survival rates for advanced melanoma were quite dismal.

Just fifteen years ago, only 5% of patients with advanced melanoma made it past five years, and many would die within just a few months after diagnosis. But recent developments in treatment have changed this grim outlook. James Larkin, a consultant medical oncologist and professor at the Institute of Cancer Research, explained that some patients are now living so long that they die of other causes, not the cancer itself. This is a significant improvement and highlights the progress we’ve made in treating this tough disease.

Every year, over 20,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with melanoma, which is a record high. This increase is partly due to more cases in older adults. Most of these cases are preventable and are caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun or tanning beds.

The breakthrough treatment involves two drugs, ipilimumab and nivolumab. These are known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. The role of these drugs is to help the immune system fight cancer more effectively. Normally, the immune system has built-in “brakes” that prevent it from attacking healthy cells. However, cancer cells can trick the immune system into thinking they are not a threat. The two drugs work by removing these brakes, allowing the immune system to recognize and destroy the cancer cells.

A recent trial tested these two drugs on 945 patients with advanced melanoma. The results, shared at the European Society for Medical Oncology in Barcelona and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed exciting progress. The survival rate for patients specifically from melanoma was higher than the overall survival rate, meaning that these patients were living long enough to die from other causes. At the ten-year mark, the survival rate for patients treated with both drugs was 52%.

Dr. Larkin praised these results as “remarkable.” Unlike many other cancer drugs that stop working over time, the immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to provide a lasting response. This trial is the longest follow-up study of patients receiving these drugs, giving doctors valuable information about how long the treatment remains effective, its overall success rates, and its side effects.

While some patients experienced side effects early on, no new problems emerged later. Even patients who had to stop treatment early due to side effects still benefited from the therapy because the drugs had already begun to impact their immune systems.

One inspiring story comes from Lucy Davis, 47, who joined the trial in 2011 after being diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. Despite having surgery to remove the cancer and lymph nodes, her cancer progressed to stage 4, and she was given only a few months to live. Lucy recalled how she felt very ill and in a lot of pain before starting the trial. But just three months later, she felt much better, her appetite returned, and scans showed that the treatment was working. She was able to see her children, who were very young when she was first diagnosed, grow up, finish their exams, and go to college—an experience she describes as “absolutely amazing.”

Despite these positive outcomes, there is still work to be done. Not all patients respond to these immunotherapy drugs, and it is not yet clear why this happens. There could be many reasons, including differences in the cancer cells or the patient’s immune system. Dr. Larkin emphasized that understanding why some patients do not respond is a major focus for researchers.

Dr. Sam Godfrey from Cancer Research UK also highlighted the importance of ongoing research. He noted that the survival rates for advanced melanoma have greatly improved over the past decade, thanks in part to new immunotherapy drugs. The study showing that combining two of these drugs leads to more patients surviving for ten years or more underscores how vital continued research is for improving cancer treatments and helping people live longer, healthier lives.

This exciting development in melanoma treatment marks a significant step forward in the fight against cancer. With more research and continued advancements, there is hope that even more patients will benefit from these life-saving therapies in the future.