title: Interleukin-2, Ipilimumab, and Anti-PD-1: clinical management and the evolving role of immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma.
abstract: Treatment of metastatic melanoma has changed dramatically in the past 5 years with the approval of six new agents (vemurafenib, dabrafenib, trametinib, ipilimumab, pembrolizumab, and nivolumab) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This review will compare the immunotherapies recently approved by the FDA (ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab) with the long-approved immunotherapy, interleukin-2. Additional consideration will be given to the evolving landscape, including the opportunities for combination regimens. Immunotherapies have distinct mechanisms of action and unique response kinetics that differ from conventional cytotoxic and targeted therapies, and have a range of adverse events that can be safely managed by experienced health-care providers. Data suggest immunotherapies can result in long-term survival in a proportion of patients. This dynamic and evolving field of immunotherapy for melanoma will continue to offer challenges in terms of optimal patient management for the foreseeable future.
authors.affiliation: Rush University Cancer Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Tasha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Rush University Cancer Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klairmont
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: William H
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7766-249X
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Sharfman
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Howard L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Kaufman
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000074324:Ipilimumab / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D000077594:Nivolumab / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007376:Interleukin-2; D000074324:Ipilimumab; D000077594:Nivolumab
keywords: Immunotherapy; interleukin-2; ipilimumab; melanoma; nivolumab; pembrolizumab; skin cancer