In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two new anti-melanoma therapies: ipilimumab and peginterferon alfa-2b.
Ipilimumab (Yervoy®) is an injection used to treat melanoma that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body (metastasized). Yervoy® jumpstarts the body’s immune system by triggering T-cell activation and proliferation. The drug is produced by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Peginterferon alfa-2b (Sylatron®) is an injection given to patients that have developed melanoma on the skin and have cancer in their lymph nodes. The drug works to prevent recurrence after patients have had their primary growth and affected lymph nodes surgically removed. Sylatron® is produced by Merck.
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