FDA Approves Trametinib for Metastatic Melanoma
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 4:19PM The FDA has approved its first MEK inhibitor, GSK’s trametinib (Mekinist), for metastatic melanoma. This is clearly great news for melanoma patients, but the potential benefit extends far beyond the treatment of melanoma. Genes such as MEK, which are implicated in one type of cancer, are often important to others cancer types as well. A clue can be seen in a second piece of recent news: pazopanib (Votrient), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was found to increase progression-free survival in ovarian cancer by almost six months. Notably, pazopanib was originally approved for kidney cancer.
The trametinib and pazopanib headlines represent two distinct but very complimentary forms of progress in the fight against cancer; the development and approval of new therapies, and repurposing, the discovery of new applications for existing therapies. While repurposing has been practiced for decades (usually by serendipity), recent genomic advances have made it possible for therapies to be repurposed in a radically different way: rationally and on a patient-by-patient basis. As an example, if an individual patient’s cancer is analyzed and found to be dependent on MEK, trametinib may become a promising therapeutic option for that patient, even if the disease is not melanoma.
GeneKey’s is thrilled by the news of trametinib’s approval, and the promise that this drug holds in melanoma and potentially other cancers as well. We look forward to helping oncologists and their patients leverage this new weapon in the war against cancer.
Full Coverage: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/fda-trametinib
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