A cancer patient has told how a large tumour underneath her left breast 'dissolved away ' after a pioneering new treatment . The 49-year-old woman showed a staggering response to a new combination of two drugs , to treat skin cancer . Doctors at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have hailed their patient 's recovery 'one of the most astonishing responses ' , ever seen . Scientists at the hospital have conducted a trial , treating patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma with a new type of treatment . They combined a standard drug already used , ipilimumab , with another , nivolumab . A 49-year-old cancer patient 's giant tumour underneath her left breast ( starred left ) was 'completely destroyed ' and 'dissolved away ' ( right ) after she received a pioneering new drugs cocktail to treat melanoma . They hope the new therapy could save thousands of lives in future . A case report , published in the New England Journal of Medicine , reveals that after just one dose of the two drugs , the 49-year-old woman reported her tumour 'kind of dissolved ' . Four years ago doctors removed a 4.2mm melanoma from her back . After treatment , and a year-and-a-half later , doctors discovered the cancer had returned . Then five months ago , another growth was removed from under the patient 's left breast . But despite surgery , the disease returned . When the patient arrived at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , she had developed a huge tumour underneath her left breast , which protruded through the skin . The woman was given her first dose of ipilimumab and nivolumab , without complaining of any side effects . When she returned to the hospital three weeks later , for her second dose of the drugs combination , she revealed to doctors the huge mass underneath her left breast had 'disappeared ' , leaving a hole in the skin . Doctors treating her said : 'This patient had a rapid eradication of a large tumour mass after a single treatment with combination immunotherapy . ' She now , no longer has any detectable melanoma . 'This is one of the most astonishing responses I have seen , ' said medical oncologist Paul Chapman . 'It reminds us of the potential power of the immune system if we can remove the `` brakes '' that keep it from attacking cancer cells . ' The World Health Organisation estimates that worldwide there are 66,000 deaths annually from skin cancer , with approximately 80 per cent due to melanoma . Researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , led by medical oncologist Michael Postow , examined 142 patients with advanced melanoma , as part of their trials . Patients were randomly assigned to receive ipilimumab and nivolumab or ipilimumab plus a placebo . Those selected to receive ipilimumab with a placebo to start with , were later allowed to receive nivolumab if the first drug was ineffective . In a staggering 61 per cent of patients receiving the combination therapy , the researchers found significant tumour shrinkage . That was compared to just 11 per cent of the patients receiving ipilimumab plus a placebo . Patients receiving both drugs also lived longer without their disease progressing . The patient was treated as part of a clinical trial to test the effects of a new drugs combination on patients with advanced melanoma , pictured . The study found 61 per cent of those treated with ipilimumab and nivolumab showed signs of their tumours shrinking . But the side effects experienced by the patients on the combination therapy were worse , though they were still manageable . Dr Postow said : 'The incredibly high response rate seen in this trial for patients receiving the combination - approximately 60 per cent - now lets us tell patients that they have a high chance of significantly shrinking their melanoma with this treatment . 'More research is still needed , however , to know if it is necessary to give all patients this combination , or if patients should receive drugs like nivolumab and ipilimumab in sequence . ' Senior author , Jedd Wolchok , chief of the melanoma and immunotherapeutics service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ( MSK ) , said : 'We are excited about these results and believe they support the principle that rationally combining effective medicines is an approach to achieving better outcomes for patients . ' The US Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab late last year . Doctors at MSK helped spearhead clinical trials testing the drug 's safety and effectiveness and continue to conduct studies using the drug to treat melanoma and other cancers . The findings were presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting .
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York were trialling a new combination of drugs to treat advanced skin cancer . Combined standard drug ipilimumab with new drug nivolumab . Woman , 49 , had just one dose of the therapy and within weeks her tumour had completely disappeared , leaving a hole in the skin under her left breast .