title: New developments in the management of advanced melanoma - role of pembrolizumab.
abstract: Cancer immunotherapy is now recognized to be fundamental in modern oncology, because immune system recruitment may represent a powerful and innovative strategy in cancer therapy. Pembrolizumab, a highly selective humanized monoclonal antibody directly blocking the interaction between programmed cell death-1 expressed by tumor-associated T-cells and its ligand programmed cell death-L1 present on tumor and stromal cells, was recently approved by US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma and disease progression upon ipilimumab and BRAF inhibitor. This review will focus on the clinical development and use of pembrolizumab in the clinical practice and in the management of advanced melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Research and Advanced Diagnostics, IRCCS-CROB, Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Improta
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Research and Advanced Diagnostics, IRCCS-CROB, Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Department of Hematology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Oncologic Technologies, IBFM-CNR, Cefalù, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy ; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pelosi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Cannizzaro Hospital, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fraggetta
keywords: PD-1 inhibitor; advanced melanoma; immunotherapy; pembrolizumab