FDA Approves Drug to Combat Skin Cancer

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug to treat patients with metastatic melanoma.
On Friday, the FDA approved the drug Yervoy -- touted as the first drug to extend the lives of people with skin cancer -- after clinical studies showed an increase in survival of patients by an average of 10 months, close to four months longer than subjects who used an experimental vaccine.






The new drug, ipilimumab, is from Bristol-Myers, and its main function is to stimulate proteins on the immune cells that affect how the body responds to cancer.





According to the FDA, patients who participated in the study experienced some side effects, including diarrhea, nausea, constipation, rashes and, in some cases, fatal autoimmune reactions.