DACARBAZINE MEDAC (dacarbazine), alkylating agent

No clinical benefit demonstrated in the next-line treatment of advanced melanoma after failure of immunotherapies and/or therapies targeted at B-RAF mutations.

Insufficient actual benefit in other situations, especially in first–line treatment, due to the role of immunotherapy and therapies targeting B-RAF mutations.

• Before the availability of immunotherapy and so-called targeted therapies in 2012, dacarbazine was commonly used as a first-line treatment for advanced melanoma, despite the absence of any demonstrated effect on survival.
• Immunotherapy and anti-BRAF therapies alone or in combination with anti-MEK agents have supplanted dacarbazine due to the demonstration of a superior efficacy in terms of disease-free survival and/or overall survival.
• Cytotoxic agents, including dacarbazine, are now a last-line treatment.