Maslin Benjamin, Alexandrescu Doru T, Ichim Thomas E, Dasanu Constantin A
Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2014 Feb;20(1):3-10. doi: 10.1177/1078155212472702. Epub 2013 Feb 22.
Individuals with malignant melanoma present a variety of immune abnormalities including but not limited to cellular immune dysfunction, antigen presentation deficits, and cytokine production defects. Therefore, enhancing the immune system potential represents an appealing avenue for melanoma therapy. The authors review the immune therapies currently in clinical use as well as the most promising immunotherapy candidates. Ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody against the CTLA-4, was approved for the therapy of advanced melanoma in 2011. In addition, sizeable anti-melanoma activity has recently been shown with the use of other agents including anti-PD-1/anti-PD-1 ligand antibodies. Consequently, these experimental immunotherapy agents may soon become important items in the anti-melanoma armamentarium.
