New treatment for malignant melanoma can be put to use

doctor absence rule medical associationDoctor writing out prescription. Photo pixabay.com

Norwegian health authorities will give patients with melanoma that has spread the opportunity to get a new type of treatment. The treatment may allow several patients to live longer than they would otherwise have been able to.

On Monday the Decision Forum for New Methods made the decision  that patients with melanoma with metastasis,  that is inoperable, can get a completely new type of treatment.
The treatment consists of two drugs given in combination, a combination that patients in Norway so far have not received due to very high costs. The introduction of the treatment in Norway will cost between 27 and 45 million annually.
– This has a positive effect on patients. The combination of the two drugs means that the cancer treatment is enhanced and the effect increases,  the head of Decision Forum, Lars Vorland, says to TV2 News.

The combination therapy is composed of drugs referred to as BRAF- and MEK inhibitors, both of which cause the cancer to develop more slowly.
The Melanoma Association thinks the forum’s decision is very good news.
– Today there are many who are happy. This gives more people the opportunity to live longer, the leader of the Melaonoma Association, Roald Nystad, says.
Norway is one of the countries with the highest incidence of melanoma. Between 150 and 200 Norwegian cancer patients annually will be possible recipients of the new treatment.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today