Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network

Research continues for a new drug to treat malignant melanoma - the most aggressive, deadliest forms of skin cancer.

In January, drug development partners Plexxikon and Roche/Genentech announced that late-stage data from a clinical study of RG7204 (PLX4032) met its co-primary endpoints showing significant survival rates in people with previously untreated BRAF V600 mutation-positive metastatic melanoma. According to the Phase III data, study participants who received RG7204 lived longer and also lived longer without disease progression compared to participants who received dacarbazine, the current standard of care.

RG7204, an orally available inhibitor of mutated BRAF, is designed to selectively inhibit the mutated BRAF protein found in approximately 50% of all cases of metastatic melanoma. Full data from the BRIM3 study an will be presented at a medical meeting later this year.

To identify the BRAF mutation in melanoma cases, MPLN offers BRAF Mutation Analysis. For more information about this test, contact a client service specialist at 800-932-2943.