A small molecule compound for the treatment of melanoma.
Malignant melanoma is a type of skin cancer that begins in melanocyte cells. Melanoma is the 19th most commonly occurring cancer. Exposure to UV radiation is a main contributing factor to developing melanoma, particularly in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Dependent on the stage of melanoma, treatment can include surgery, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation. Despite a wide range of treatment options, there are multiple mechanisms of resistance to both targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Annually, treatment costs for melanoma accrue to approximately $3.3 billion. The 5-year survival rate for metastatic melanoma is 27%. Due to the aggressive nature and prevalence of treatment resistance in melanoma, new compounds to combat this disease are needed.
Researchers at Emory successfully synthesized indolium 1, a triphenylmethane with therapeutic potential for the treatment of melanoma. In a longitudinal study, mice treated with indolium 1 showed decreased tumor size compared to controls. Moreover, indolium 1 treatment was well tolerated in vivo. In all, indolium 1 has potent in vivo activity against an aggressive treatment-resistant mutant melanoma and may work to inhibit tumor cell proliferation by a novel mechanism that can bypass known resistance pathways.
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