According to a study published in the journal Cancer, second-line treatment (treatment given when initial treatment doesn’t work) with the chemotherapy drugs paclitaxel and carboplatin resulted in a partial reduction of cancer or stable disease in 45% of patients with metastatic melanoma.
To provide additional information about the effects of paclitaxel and carboplatin (without the addition of sorafenib) in patients with metastatic melanoma, researchers affiliated with the Mayo Clinic described the experiences of 31 patients treated with this chemotherapy combination.[2] All patients had failed initial therapy for metastatic melanoma and received paclitaxel and carboplatin as second-line therapy.
The researchers conclude that the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin has anticancer activity in patients with metastatic melanoma. Because the response rate in this study was lower than in the phase I/II trial of carboplatin, paclitaxel, and sorafenib, the researchers speculate that the addition of sorafenib may provide additional benefit. The effect of adding sorafenib to treatment with paclitaxel and carboplatin will be addressed in a planned phase III clinical trial.