Two experimental GlaxoSmithKline Plc drugs that block genes tied to lethal skin cancer worked better than chemotherapy in studies that tested them individually, paving the way for final-phase trials on their use together.
About 80 percent of patients with advanced melanoma given Glaxo’s trametinib were alive after six months, compared with 67 percent on chemotherapy used as a standard treatment. Separately, Glaxo’s dabrafenib delayed disease progression by 5.1 months, compared with 2.7 months for chemotherapy. The Glaxo-funded research is being reported today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.
