Key points from article :
Melanoma is the 5 most common cancer in the UK and kills nearly 2,300 people each year.
Ten years ago only 1-in-20 patients would live for 5 years with advanced melanoma.
People tended to live between six and nine months after diagnosis.
Trial with 945 patients investigated 2 immunotherapy drugs - nivolumab and ipilimumab.
52% of patients were still alive when given both drugs
Three-quarters of the survived patients no longer need any form of cancer treatment.
Some patients taking the drugs are in total remission with no sign of any abnormality on scans.
Side effects can be fatigue, skin rashes and diarrhoea.
Findings have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
