Each year more than 1300 people will die because of it.
But a new pill is achieving promising results in global trials, giving hope to hundreds of thousands of Australians battling melanoma.
The little white pill could be answer we've be waiting for. The drug, which is being trialled globally, aims to break down the genetic cancer-causing gene responsible for the majority of melanomas.
More stories from Today TonightMelanoma claims 1200 lives around the country each year. By the time you know you've got it, it’s often too late.
“It is the Australian cancer, because the incidence is highest in Australia than across the world,” Director of Cancer Services at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra hospital, Dr Euan Walpole said.
Nicole Gillispie is facing the battle of her life. “Writing a will for the wrong reasons, at the age of 28, is quite daunting,” Nicole said.
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Almost four years ago she noticed a mole on her stomach change, and immediately underwent surgery. “The pathology came back as a level three melanoma,” Nicole said.
But months later the aggressive cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, then pancreas, breast tissue and back.
The news rocked her tight knit family. “I was devastated,” her mum Kerry said.
“It’s hard to hear people judging, and thinking it’s something she's done,” sister Laura said.
But Nicole had never sun-baked. Like more than half of all advanced melanoma patients she has a genetic mutation known as the B-Raf gene, which makes her more susceptible to the deadly disease.
Nicole's melanoma is stage four, with statistics showing a life expectancy of just five years in 20 per cent of sufferers, which is why she willingly volunteered to be part of the global trial of a new drug.
Currently the only treatment available is surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, but they have limited success in advanced melanoma cases.
“Chemotherapy is a very non-specific thing in the fact that what it does is target anything that grows,” said Dr Walpole.
Nicole has a rigorous hospital routine - scans, bloods tests, heart tests, chemotherapy. This is now her life.
“When she comes in we need to make sure her body is coping with the drugs, so she has a couple of blood tests which let us know what is happening,” Kim Wright, the clinical trial coordinator explained.
“Some chemotherapy cause changes in the heart, so today she'll be having an ECG as well,” Wright added.
Use of the medication in America has seen melanoma tumours shrink altogether, but in some cases the drug stops working after nine months.
Dr Walpole is cautiously optimistic.
“We can see changes in pictures which might make things smaller, but unless that’s a durable effect, how much that changes the longevity and symptoms of patients is another question,” he said.
“If the results continue to be positive, as they were in the preliminary stages, it would mean we would have the first treatment for advanced melanoma that actually works,” Dr Walpole said.
In the last twelve months, since Nicole has been taking the trial drug, her tumours have shrunk - some by half - while others have almost disappeared, and now resemble scar tissue.
However her tumour in her pancreas, which initially halved in size, has grown. At the end of this week, if that is the only sign of cancer, doctors will most likely operate on it.
As an ambassador for the Queensland Cancer Council Nicole wants to educate others about having regular check-ups. The earlier melanoma is discovered, the better the chance of survival.
If this drug proves effective long-term it could help treat a host of other cancers, including colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer.
Contact details- Cancer Council Queensland - www.cancerqld.org.au
- Cancer Council Australia - www.cancer.org.au
- Princess Alexandra Hospital - www.health.qld.gov.au
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