FDA approves combination of two GSK drugs for skin cancer

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved two drugs made by GlaxoSmithKline for use together in patients with advanced melanoma that can't be removed by surgery or has spread to other parts of the body, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the new approval for Mekinist (trametinib) and Tafinlar (dabrafenib). The agency originally approved the two drugs for use as single agents for the same indication in May 2013.

According to the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 76,690 Americans were diagnosed last year with melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, and 9,480 died.