Abstract
The incidence of malignant melanoma, the most lethal skin cancer, has been steadily increasing in the last 30 years and prognosis for patients is poor. The well-documented interface between the immune response and melanoma represents an attempt by the host to suppress tumor growth, but also constitutes a key parameter in the natural history of the disease. Systemic adjuvant therapies, such as IFN-α2b, have validated the merits of activating immune responses to oppose tumor development. Cutting-edge research efforts into targeting key T-cell immune check points, such as CTLA-4, aiming to overcome tolerance and enhance immune responses to melanoma, are now yielding novel therapeutics. We review the key areas of research activity in melanoma immunotherapy, the clinical experiences with immune therapeutics and discuss the most promising agents that are now driving the field.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors acknowledge financial support from the Department of Health via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.