--- title: Two New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment description: Drugs that spur the immune system to target cancer cells prove promising in two clinical trials. canonical: https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-20T17:09:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:31:15.207Z article:section: Health og:title: Two New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment og:description: Drugs that spur the immune system to target cancer cells prove promising in two clinical trials. og:url: https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66eccd293c611354/6987ebe006f2c1a5c2337d05/skin-cancer-treatment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: skin-cancer-treatment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Two New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment twitter:description: Drugs that spur the immune system to target cancer cells prove promising in two clinical trials. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66eccd293c611354/6987ebe006f2c1a5c2337d05/skin-cancer-treatment.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 20, 2015 5:09 PM UTC  Dermoscopy DermoscopyGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 20, 2015 5:09 PM UTC Drugs that spur the immune system to target cancer cells [may prove an effective skin cancer](http://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/skin-cancer-news-108/immune-focused-drugs-show-promise-against-melanoma-698550.html) treatment, according to two clinical trials published Monday. The drugs, called immune checkpoint inhibitors, had impressive results in treating advanced melanoma, according to the trials published in the _New England Journal of Medicine._ In some cases, the results were even better than the current frontline treatment for the cancer. [One trial](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1503093#t=articleMethods) showed the drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) had better outcomes compared to the commonly used treatment for skin cancer, Yervoy (ipilimumab). The [other trial](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414428?query=featured%5Fhome) showed patients’ tumors responded better to a combination of the drugs Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy than just Yervoy on its own. However, around half of patients getting the combination therapy experienced moderate to serious side effects. Such treatments could also prove expensive. [According to the _Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/bristol-myers-drug-combination-shows-promise-against-melanoma-1429533001), the drugs used in the combination treatment study, for instance, come at a hefty price with a four-treatment course of Yervoy costing $120,000 and Opdivo costing $12,500 a month. The study results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The trial with the combination drugs was funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and the other trial was funded by Merck. \[[_Health Day_](http://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/skin-cancer-news-108/immune-focused-drugs-show-promise-against-melanoma-698550.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/"},"headline":"New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment","datePublished":"2015-04-20T17:09:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:31:15.207Z","description":"In some cases, the results were even better than the current frontline treatment for the cancer","url":"https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/","keywords":["Cancer","skin cancer","immune system","melanoma"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66eccd293c611354/6987ebe006f2c1a5c2337d05/skin-cancer-treatment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66eccd293c611354/6987ebe006f2c1a5c2337d05/skin-cancer-treatment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"skin-cancer-treatment","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3828319/new-trial-skin-cancer-treatment/","name":"New Trials Show Promise For Future Skin Cancer Treatment"}}]}] ```