Management of melanoma brain metastases in the era of targeted therapy.

Autor: Shapiro DG; Section of Melanoma, Renal Cancer and Immunotherapy, Nevada Cancer Institute, One Breakthrough Way, Las Vegas, NV 89135, USA., Samlowski WE
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of skin cancer [J Skin Cancer] 2011; Vol. 2011, pp. 845863. Date of Electronic Publication: 2011 Dec 15.
DOI: 10.1155/2011/845863
Abstrakt: Disseminated metastatic disease, including brain metastases, is commonly encountered in malignant melanoma. The classical treatment approach for melanoma brain metastases has been neurosurgical resection followed by whole brain radiotherapy. Traditionally, if lesions were either too numerous or surgical intervention would cause substantial neurologic deficits, patients were either treated with whole brain radiotherapy or referred to hospice and supportive care. Chemotherapy has not proven effective in treating brain metastases. Improvements in surgery, radiosurgery, and new drug discoveries have provided a wider range of treatment options. Additionally, recently discovered mutations in the melanoma genome have led to the development of "targeted therapy." These vastly improved options are resulting in novel treatment paradigms for approaching melanoma brain metastases in patients with and without systemic metastatic disease. It is therefore likely that improved survival can currently be achieved in at least a subset of melanoma patients with brain metastases.
Databáze: MEDLINE