title: Immunotherapy for cutaneous malignancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immunotherapy for cutaneous malignancy involves manipulating the immune system to treat and prevent skin cancer. Although initial efforts were fraught with low success rates and technical challenges, more-recent endeavors have yielded response rates approaching 50% for treating metastatic melanoma. Many of these advances are a result of increasing knowledge of the immune system's intricacies and continued progress in laboratory techniques.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review our current understanding of the skin immune system and discuss how these factors contribute to the host response to malignancy and to report the current state of immunotherapeutic techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  An extensive PubMed literature search was conducted in topics involving immunotherapy with specific relevance to cutaneous malignancy using the MeSH terms "immunotherapy" and "skin cancer."
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite initially poor patient responses to these treatment modalities, recent gains in scientific knowledge and clinical intervention protocols have brought immunotherapy to the forefront of prospective skin cancer therapeutics, particularly for advanced melanoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current treatment options for advanced cutaneous malignancies such as melanoma are low in efficacy. Immunotherapies have the potential to provide novel approaches to address this, particularly when used in combination. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatologic Surgery, Department of Dermatology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14623, USA. sherrif_ibrahim@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Sherrif F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Divya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sambandan
authors.forename: Désirée
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ratner
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines