New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- A combination immunotherapy may help cure a majority of patients with melanoma -- a deadly skin cancer -- that has spread to the brain, revealed a seven-year follow-up results from a clinical trial on Tuesday. The trial, published today in the journal Lancet Oncology, showed that more than 50 per cent of patients given combination immunotherapy as first-line treatment achieved long-term disease control.

Currently, patients with brain metastases -- which account for 30-40 per cent of patients with Stage 4 melanoma -- only survive for around 16 weeks. Professor Georgina Long AO, Medical Director of Melanoma Institute Australia said the combination immunotherapy led to the overall survival of 48 per cent of patients, w...