Centenary Institute researchers take lead on promising new class of drugs for melanoma treatment

Aug 14 2015

Researchers at Sydney’s Centenary Institute have taken the lead on a promising new class of drugs that may prove  to be  highly effective for the treatment of certain cases of  melanoma.

Around 20% of melanoma patients have an abnormal activation of the gene EZH2. These patients often find themselves faced with very aggressive melanoma and although treatments exist, they do not work for everyone or the patients become resistant to the treatment.

The Centenary Institute has found that they can control and kill melanoma cells by inhibiting the gene EZH2 in these patients.

Lead researcher on this project, Dr Jessamy Tiffen, said this is an exciting new breakthrough for the treatment of melanoma.

“This particular class of drugs is currently being used in clinical trials overseas and has proven to be effective for the treatment of Lymphoma,” Dr Tiffen  said.

“It is extremely exciting to see this same class of drugs offering early signs of success for the treatment of melanoma.”

Dr Tiffen said with the highest incidence in the world, Melanoma is known as Australia's cancer.

“Despite great successes we've recently seen with immunotherapies for the treatment of melanoma, not all patients respond. The development of resistance to treatment remains a serious problem,” she said.

“This breakthrough brings us one step closer to offering a new and effective treatment for some of the many melanoma patients who find themselves with no other option.”

The Centenary Institute’s finding was recently published in the journal OncoTarget. This new class of drugs has offered great promise in vitro and is currently in the process of being tested in vivo.