About Melanoma

When melanoma has spread around the body it is known as stage 4 or metastatic melanoma.  When the disease gets to this stage, it is sadly notoriously difficult to treat. The standard treatment is only effective in a small number of cases and is highly unlikely to produce a cure. 

Since October 2007, the Factor 50 group have been fundraising and everything raised has been delivered to the Melanoma Team at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.   The trust  is the largest single site oncology centre in Europe; the team has the largest melanoma practice in the UK. They have close links with the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Melanoma Clinical Subgroup, UK Melanoma Study Group , the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Melanoma Group, and a number of other research groups researching the causes and treatment of melanoma. The team works collaboratively with the internationally renowned Patterson Institute, which is at the forefront of groundbreaking research. Many new treatments are developed by the pharmaceutical industry, and a close working relationship means we are able to have access to new drugs as soon as they reach the clinical trial phase.

In recent years, scientists have been working tirelessly in trying to find a cure for melanoma.  Sadly, we have not reached this point yet, but in November 2012 after many appraisals that Factor 50 were a part of, two new drugs, Ipilimumab and Vemurafenib were given approval for use on the NHS.  These drugs, whilst not a cure, have been proven to extend the lives of late stage melanoma patients.  This will make a huge difference to the lives of patients and their families. 

If you have queries about anything you see on our site, drugs, treatments or clinical trials, please let us know and we will do our best to help and put you in contact with the correct people.