A recent research has confirmed a genetically modified herpes simplex virus—Talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC)—as an effective treatment for stage 3B and stage 4 melanoma. TVEC was approved by the FDA in 2015 as a treatment modality for late stage melanoma which could not be corrected surgically . Talimogene laherparepvec is carried in a syringe and injected locally at the site of the melanotic lesion. It induces an immune reaction in the body which acts against the skin lesions.
A research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL, and Emory University in Atlanta, GA, treated 80 patients suffering from varying stages of melanoma—stage 3B, 3C, 3D and metastatic—with TVEC for 3 years. At the end of the study, 39% experienced a complete disappearance of the lesions and 18% experienced a partial resolution of the melanotic patches. This study…
