New Drug Could Boost Skin Cancer Survival

A new drug that could prolong the lives of patients who suffer from the deadliest form of skin cancer is being launched in America.

Metastatic melanoma kills 2,067 patients every year.

Patients who suffer from the disease have an overall life expectancy of six to nine months.

Doctors believe the drug ipilimumab is the first treatment to control this form of cancer for a prolonged period.

The drug is being launched today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology .

The treatment works by stimulating the body's own immune system to fight cancer in a process called T-Cell mediated immunopotentiation.

Figures released show in combination with another drug called dacarbazine 28% of patients treated with ipilimumab were alive at two years and 20% at three.

The drug has been trialled in UK and was made available to patient Richard Jackson in 2006.

He said: "Within a few days of having the treatment the lesions on my skin changed to a bright red colour and I could tell the treatment was having an effect."

Skin cancer kills more than 2,500 people annually.

Over the past 30 years the rate of malignant melanoma has risen faster than any of the top 10 cancers in males and females in Britain.

"Being given a diagnosis of metastatic melanoma, coupled with limited treatment options is frightening" said Richard Clifford, trustee of SKCIN , a charity dedicated to raining awareness of skin cancer detection and prevention.

"While prevention is the best way to avoid melanoma, for many the message comes too late, so the development of effective new treatments that can extend the lives of patients is very welcome new."

The release of ipilimumab comes at the same time a report says more than a third of the public don't wear sunscreen when in Britain.

The study by skin care specialists La Roche-Posay also reveals that out of those who do apply sunscreen, only 43% would think of wearing protection in the park on a typical summer's day.

The new drug is expected to be made available in the UK in August.