A report published earlier this month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology describes the clinical trial of a 79-year-old woman with multiple melanoma tumors in her abdomen, carrying a gene abnormality called KIT, showing a dramatic reduction in tumor size after receiving treatment using Gleevec (Imatinib), a drug know to target that gene.

Four weeks after the therapy began, imaging exams showed dramatic reductions in tumor sizes. Two of the melanoma tumor masses had disappeared, and others were considerably smaller. Now, nine months later, she is still receiving the treatment and her condition remains stable.

Although this report only involved one patient, it still provides confidence in the fight against melanoma, a disease that research has failed to find any genetic way of shutting down cell growth. Because this trial targeted the KIT mutation, that only occurs in a small percent of melanomas, this is not a potential universal treatment.

Imatinib's effectiveness against tumors with KIT mutations was first demonstrated in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a relatively rare malignancy occurring in the digestive tract. An estimated 75-80 percent of GISTs have KIT mutations, and Imatinib has caused such tumors to stabilize or retreat in 75-90 percent of patients receiving it. In most of these patients, however, tumors eventually begin growing again as they become resistant to the drug.