Researchers have for the first time identified mechanisms that enable advanced melanoma to become resistant to a new class of drugs, known as immunotherapies, which work by enlisting the body’s own immune system to fight the disease. “This will help us to better design the next generation of treatment,” said Dr Antoni Ribas, director of the tumor immunology program at the University of California Los Angeles and a lead author of the study released on Wednesday. Immune system-boosting drugs, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s Opdivo and Merck & Co Inc’s Keytruda, can induce long-lasting remissions, possibly even cures, for some cancer patients, researchers have found.
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UCLA study finds why some cancers stop responding to immunotherapy