The results of two international trials against advanced skin cancer have been hailed as “exciting and striking”.
Both treatments, for advanced melanoma, are designed to enable the immune system to recognise and target tumours.
The findings were released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
The experimental drugs, pembrolizumab and nivolumab, block the biological pathway cancers use to disguise themselves from the immune system.
Advanced melanoma – skin cancer which has spread to other organs – has proved very hard to treat.
Until a few years ago average survival was around six months.