据英国《每日邮报》8月22日报道，一种能有效增加恶性黑素瘤患者存活可能性的药物已被批准在英国境内使用。实验表明，这种名为Ipilimumab的药物能令患者的生命延长4个月时间。这是自20世纪70年代以来，英国在治疗恶性黑素瘤方面取得的重大进步。
参与研制工作的英国医学教授保罗 洛里根介绍说：“Ipilimumab药物的批准使用意义非凡，这是40年来英国首次使用药物治疗方法来延长晚期恶性黑素瘤患者的平均寿命。长期以来，我们一直没能掌握可以有效应对这种致命性疾病的治疗手段，新药物的使用可谓一次巨大的突破。”
长达两年的实验证明，未服用该药物的晚期恶性黑素瘤患者确诊后能够存活6个月的概率仅有14%，而服用该药物的晚期患者中，24%的人在确诊后能够存活10个月左右。
“该药物能够改变患者免疫系统的运作方式，刺激其与癌症搏斗。目前，科研人员还在试验该药是否对肺癌或前列腺癌同样具有治疗效果，”洛里根表示。
英国国家健康与临床优化研究所将于明年2月公布是否将该药物纳入英国国民健康保险制度中。而英格兰西北部和中西部地区已经决定将Ipilimumab列入抗癌药物名单。
恶性黑素瘤是一种十分危险的致命皮肤癌，其发病率虽较基底细胞癌、鳞状细胞癌低，但恶性度大，转移发生早，死亡率高。早期患者被治愈的可能性相对较高。而依据现代医学水平，晚期患者由于癌细胞扩散过快，很难被治愈。
目前，英国每年有超过1.04万人被诊断患有晚期恶性黑素瘤，其中19%的人因无法治愈而死亡。据预计，Ipilimumab被批准使用后，每年约有2000名患者接受这种治疗。不过，每个疗程高达1.8万英镑的治疗费用也许会对该药物的推广产生影响。
生物探索推荐英文原文报道：
Skin cancer drug which 'can extend life by four years' is first real advance since 1970s
A drug which doubles the chances of surviving the most dangerous form of skin cancer has been licensed for use by British patients.
Doctors say it is the first real advance in treating deadly melanomas since the 1970s.
It increases the lifespan of patients by an average of almost four months where the cancer has spread to other organs.
But some are alive four years after treatment, according to British doctors carrying out trials.
It is estimated the drug, ipilimumab, could benefit up to 2,000 patients in the UK each year, many of them in their 20s and 30s.
However, the cost of £18,000 for a course of treatment may affect whether it comes into widespread use.
The rationing body NICE will decide next February if the NHS can afford it, but two regions in England, the North West and the West Midlands, have decided it will be available in the meantime through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Breakthrough: The new drug increases the lifespan of patients by an average of almost four months where the cancer has spread to other organs
Dr Paul Lorigan, Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, one of the leading trial centres for ipilimumab, said: ‘The authorisation of ipilimumab represents a real advance in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma as this is the first treatment for 30 years in the UK to extend patients’ life expectancy.
‘After years of no progress in the treatment of this terrible illness, we have now made a stride forward.’
Trials show almost half (46 per cent) of patients with advanced melanoma were alive after one year, compared with 25 per cent of those who did not receive ipilimumab.
Melanoma: A drug which enhances life expectancy for skin cancer sufferers has been licensed in Britain
After two years, 24 per cent of those receiving it were alive compared with 14 per cent of those not having the drug, also called Yervoy, which is made by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Overall, life was extended by ten months compared with six months for patients not on the drug, although some patients were followed for more than four years.
Other drugs are in the pipeline for advanced melanoma.
Dr Lorigan said the drug changes the way the immune system works, stimulating it to fight the cancer. It is also being tested for lung, prostate and other cancers.
Every year in the UK more than 10,400 people are diagnosed with malignant melanoma and 2,000 die.
It is treatable if caught early, but if it spreads patients are rarely cured with current treatments.
