Cutaneous melanoma and the immunotherapy revolution (Review)

Abstract

In a relatively short period of time, treatment strategies for metastatic melanoma have radically changed leading to an unprecedented improvement in patient survival. In this period, immunotherapy options have evolved from cytokine-based approaches to antibody-mediated inhibition of immune checkpoints, cancer vaccines and pharmacological modulation of the melanoma microenvironment. Combination of immunotherapy strategies and the association of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with BRAF V600 targeted therapy show encouraging results. The future of drug development in this field is promising. The comprehension of primary and acquired resistance mechanisms to ICIs and the dissection of melanoma immunobiology will be instrumental for the development of new treatment strategies and to improve clinical trial design. Moreover, biomarker discovery will help patient stratification and management during immunotherapy treatment. In this review, we summarize landmark clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma and discuss the rational for immunotherapy combinations. Immunotherapy approaches at early stage of clinical development and recent advances in melanoma immunotherapy biomarker development are also discussed.

Cancer Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors-Based Immunotherapy Harmful or Beneficial?

“…The ICIs are monoclonal antibodies directed against the so-called immune checkpoints which are activated by cancer cells in the attempt to suppress the immune system and its anti-cancer activity [ 53 , 54 ]. ICIs include anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies and they represent a revolutionary type of immunotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors, including melanoma, lung cancer, renal carcinoma, urothelial cancers and head and neck cancers, as well as several hematological cancers, alone or in combination between each other or with other cytotoxic chemotherapies [ 55 , 56 , 57 ]. For their nature, ICIs restore the cellular-mediated immunocompetence.…”

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors from cancer to COVID‑19: A promising avenue for the treatment of patients with COVID‑19 (Review)

“…ICIs, including anti-PD-1, anti-PD ligand-1 (PD-L1) and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies, represent an innovative therapy for the treatment of numerous solid tumors, as well as some hematological malignancies (ie., certain lymphomas) (122) as they restore cellular-mediated immunocompetence (123)(124)(125)(126).…”

Essential Oils and Their Main Chemical Components: The Past 20 Years of Preclinical Studies in Melanoma

“…Targeted therapy, mostly represented by BRAF inhibitors, shows efficacy in the treatment of BRAF mutated metastatic melanoma when administered as single agents or in combination with MEK inhibitors [4]. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 monoclonal antibodies, are able to activate the immune response in the host through their ability to unmask the inhibition of the host immune cells [5]. Targeted therapy in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors has also showed encouraging results in the last few years [6].…”