More Than a Letter: A Year of Advocacy for Patients with Advanced Melanoma

What does advocacy really mean?

For many people, advocacy means raising awareness.

For us, it also means showing up where decisions are made.

For more than a year, AIM at Melanoma Foundation has been working alongside other melanoma advocacy organizations to help ensure that the voices of patients and families are part of the conversation surrounding RP1 in combination with nivolumab, a potential new treatment option for people with advanced melanoma who have exhausted other therapies.

That work has included meeting with Congress, sharing patient stories, submitting letters, collaborating with partner organizations, and reminding decision-makers that behind every clinical trial and every application are people waiting for more time, more options, and more hope.

Last week, we joined six other melanoma organizations in sending a third letter to the FDA following the agency’s acceptance of the resubmitted application. In that letter, we urged the FDA to consider both the scientific evidence and the urgent unmet need facing patients whose melanoma has not responded to existing immunotherapies.

This is what advocacy looks like.

It is often quiet. It happens through conversations, collaboration, and persistence. It means returning again and again to speak on behalf of the community we serve.

For patients with advanced melanoma, every additional treatment option matters. Every new therapy has the potential to give someone more time, another chance, or a path forward when few options remain.

The FDA is expected to make its decision in early August. For more than a year, we have been advocating for the approval of this potential new treatment—working to ensure that the voices of patients and families are heard at every step of the review process.