Metastatic melanoma was historically designated the “drug killer cancer” because for decades no drug had demonstrated any benefit in terms of overall survival (OS) for patients with metastatic melanoma. This situation has radically changed over the last 2 years. Melanoma appears today as a “pilot” disease for which the most innovative therapeutic strategies have demonstrated significant efficacy. The two strategies are immunotherapy on the one hand and targeted therapy on the other. These two significant breakthroughs led to the authorisation in the United States (US) and in Europe of two drugs: the anti-BRAF agent vemurafenib and the anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody ipilimumab. More recently, two additional targeted agents, dabrafenib and trametinib, were authorised in the US. Moreover, the field continues to improve with the exciting development of new drugs following these two new approaches.
