The Buckingham

A study has shown that if a patient takes both dabrafenib and trametinib from GlaxoSmithKline Plc melanoma is slowed down. Together the drugs delayed tumor growth up to 9.4 months.

Both drugs are used to help cancer. Dabrafenib blocks BRAF, the gene that rapibly increases cancer-cell growth. Trametinib stops the protein MEK from increasing. In London the study began and has now been released on Sept. 29th at the European Society for Medical Oncology.

GSK has admitted in early Aug. to have sent the drugs for approval in both the U.S. and Europe, if the two drugs are cleared they will eventually compete against Roche Holding AG’s Zelboraf.

Fortunately for the patients who took the two drugs together they experienced a lower rate of rashes than they had with Zelboraf. The trametinib’s MEK component is to thank for that positive side effect.

According to the National Cancer Institute thousands of Americans are diagnosed with melanoma ever year. If a person is lucky enough to catch the cancer early the chances of survival are extremely great, for the ones that have the cancer spread throughout their body they have about a 15 percent survival rate, according to the American Cancer Society.