SUNDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Chemotherapy may be more effective on melanoma tumors if a protein frequently found in the growth can first be disabled, a new study reports.

Researchers at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center found the drug ADH-1, which makes it difficult for cells to properly bind to one another, helped chemotherapy completely destroy the tumors in twice as many patients than with chemo alone. Sixteen people with regionally advanced melanoma, in which the cancerous growths appear and spread mainly on the limbs, participated in the pilot study.