Melanoma Patients survive longer with Ipilimumab treatment

Patients who are suffering from advanced melanoma are known to survive for utmost ten more years when undergoing ipilimumab monoclonal antibody treatment. According to the European Cancer Congress or ECC2013, the study can prove that melanoma patients can survive longer due to the treatment. Assistant Professor of Medicine Professor Stephen Hodi said, “Our findings demonstrate that there is a plateau in overall survival, which begins around the third year and extends through the third year.” Hodi added that the results are considered significant for healthcare providers and their patients because they provide a better perspective for long-term survival of patients. He said the data represented the largest number of patients under melanoma therapy and can provide a basis for medicines to be crafted in the future. Ipilimumab is an antibody that triggers the immune system to battle melanoma skin cancer through focusing on the protein receptor known as Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 or CTLA-4.