title: Restoration of tumor equilibrium after immunotherapy for advanced melanoma: three illustrative cases.
abstract: Metastatic melanoma runs a predictable detrimental course in the vast majority of patients. New modalities of immunotherapy, such as melanoma antigen-specific therapeutic vaccination and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) receptor blockade by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), have been associated with atypical kinetics of tumor response that differ from those observed during cytotoxic treatment. Recently, new tumor response criteria have been proposed based on the tumor response characteristics observed in clinical studies with ipilimumab (the so-called 'immune-related response criteria'). We report three illustrative cases of the American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IV-M1c melanoma patients who experienced atypical kinetics of tumor response to the treatment with the CTLA-4-blocking mAb, ipilimumab (case 1), or an autologous dendritic cell vaccine in combination with interferon α-2b (cases 2 and 3). These cases show that atypical response patterns not only relate to the outcome of CTLA-4-blocking mAb therapy but also to the treatment with therapeutic vaccines and interferon α-2b.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Oncologisch Centrum UZ Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, Brussels, Belgium. Sofie.Wilgenhof@vub.ac.be
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilgenhof
authors.forename: Lauranne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pierret
authors.forename: Jurgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corthals
authors.forename: An M T
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Van Nuffel
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heirman
authors.forename: Truus
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roelandt
authors.forename: Arlette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Coninck
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verfaillie
authors.forename: Frederik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vandenbroucke
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Riet
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonehill
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thielemans
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Neyns
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D000074324:Ipilimumab; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000074324:Ipilimumab