Targeted therapies in metastatic melanoma: toward a clinical breakthrough?

Metastatic melanoma is a very aggressive cancer. Dacarbazine has been considered as the standard therapy for decades. Due to a better understanding of melanoma cells signalling and immunological response, new targeted therapies are now proposed. The efficency of these new drugs needs to be confirmed by on larger clinical trials. Ipilimumab (anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody) and V600-E-B-raf inhibitor have shown encouraging results, while c-KIT and MEK inhibitors are currently under evaluation. These recently published data shed the light on melanoma management. We review here the latest development of these molecules and the current perspectives in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.