A genetically modified herpes virus, also known as RP1, could soon be getting the green light to be approved by US and European regulators. According to the results of an early-stage trial, tumors shrank in a third of patients with late-stage melanoma who had received injections with the RP1 virus. For half of the respondents, the tumors disappeared completely. Participants also took nivolumab in combination with injections, a drug designed to improve the immune response to tumors.
Some 140 people took part in the trial, and a later-stage trial is now underway that will have 400 participants. Nonetheless, RP1 could still be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US at the end of the month to be used together with nivolumab for advanced melanoma treatment.
Melanoma is a serious and dangerous type of skin cancer, which can also spread to other parts of the body. Indeed, skin cancer is by far the most common type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, and it’s also on the rise. We’re constantly hearing about the importance of sunscreen, and, yet, cancer incidences continue to grow. Are we taking the health of our skin seriously?
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