Drugs Help Advanced Lung, Skin Cancers

Two drugs that take different approaches have helped patients with two types of advanced cancer, researchers say. One drug, ipilimumab, allows the body’s immune system to fight cancer better. The drug trial included 676 people with advanced melanoma. They were given ipilimumab, another immune booster or both. Half of the people who received ipilimumab lived at least 10 months. People who received only the other immune booster lived about 6.4 months. In the other study, the drug crizotinib was given to 82 people with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Everyone in this study had an abnormal gene that causes two proteins to combine. This fused protein leads to tumor growth. Crizotinib blocks one of the proteins. Tumors shrank for 57% of the people taking the drug. Tumors stayed the same size for 30%. Results of the two studies were reported at a cancer conference.