Peter Hersey, an oncologist and authority on melanoma, said that treatment of one of the tumors with PV-10 led to complete eradication of all four tumors that had repeatedly resisted treatment with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
The 86 year old is part of a 20-subject phase I study of the safety and efficacy of PV-10, an injectable formulation of Rose Bengal also known as Provecta, for the ablation of metastatic melanoma, an aggressive and often fatal form of skin cancer. While further study is needed, Hersey said that PV-10 ablation of the treated tumor appeared to elicit an immune response leading to destruction of untreated cancerous tumors, while leaving healthy tissue intact.
Pre-clinical animal studies have shown broad-spectrum applicability of the agent for selective ablation of a number of cancers, including melanoma, breast carcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma.