HOG Treatments a First for Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas-based Highlands Oncology Group has become the first provider in the state to offer clinical trial testing treatments for melanoma patients.

Dr. J. Thaddeus Beck is leading the trials for patients with melanoma carrying the NRAS mutation. The trials last approximately 12 months, Beck said, adding that he hopes to have four to six people participate.

“We are lucky to have this available for our patients in Northwest Arkansas and the state,” Beck said.

The NRAS mutation is present in approximately 20 percent of malignant cases of melanoma, according to a news release about the trials.

HOG is conducting a new personalized medicine program that will assist in the trial, using next generation molecular sequencing to identify unique genetic mutations that can be targeted for treatment. The program provides free medicine to patients involved in the trial whose tumors carry particular genetic mutations.

“The medicine is a new type or targeted therapy that has shown initial effectiveness in a subset of melanoma that is not effectively targeted with existing drugs,” Beck said. “We have already seen the benefits in a prior trial and it is hoped this follow-up study will prove the drug’s effectiveness and that the FDA will grant approval for its use in this group of patients.”

Melanoma accounts for less than five percent of skin cancer cases, but causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.