[Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in the therapy of melanoma]

The incidence of malignant melanoma is continuously rising, but the therapy of advanced melanoma remains insufficient. Advances in the understanding of the immunological and genetical background resulted in the development of a new target therapeutic agent, vemurafenib (Zelboraf) accepted by the FDA in 2011 and by the EMA in 2012. Vemurafenib improved the overall and progression-free survival of untreated melanoma with the mutation BRAF V600E. In a phase III study vemurafenib was associated with a 63% reduction in the risk of deaths compared with dacarbazine and of 74% in the risk of either death or disease progression. Objective response was 48% in the vemurafenib and 5% in the dacarbazine arm. Vemurafenib has special side effects, surprisingly even secondary skin tumors. Additional research is needed to understand the mechanism of drug resistance and to find new targeted therapeutic agents and combinations.