<p><br /> A pill for advanced skin cancer that targets patients with particular genetic make-up has had dramatic results, scientists have revealed.<br /> </p><p><br /> In 80 per cent of those treated, tumours were significantly reduced in size.<br /> </p><p><br /> The patients were suffering from malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, which had started to spread.<br /> </p><p><br /> Most had mutations in the BRAF gene which occur in 40 per cent to 60 per cent of patients with the disease.<br /> </p><p><br /> The drug, PLX4032, inhibits faulty BRAF and prevents it stimulating the cancer.<br /> </p><p><br /> Lead researcher Dr Paul Chapman, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said: "We have seen many tumours shrink rapidly, and in some patients, quality of life improved dramatically. This is the beginning of personalised medicine in melanoma."<br /> </p>
