Immune drug for deadly skin cancer shows long-term survival

Immune drug for deadly skin cancer shows long-term survival

CHICAGO (AP) — A new kind of drug for the deadliest form of skin cancer helped some patients survive for at least three years, a study shows.

The drug, which targets the immune system, was used to treat former President Jimmy Carter, who was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his brain.

The latest findings for Merck's Keytruda (kee-TROO'-duh) are among the best long-term data ever for treating melanoma that has spread to other organs, Robert and other cancer experts said.

Robert, a melanoma researcher at Gustave Roussy cancer center near Paris, has worked as a consultant for Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, which makes two other immunotherapy drugs approved for advanced melanoma.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer, said the new Keytruda research "is a big deal."