title: Talimogene laherparepvec in the treatment of melanoma.
abstract: : Metastatic melanoma continues to present a significant therapeutic challenge, with an incidence rate rising faster than that of any other cancer. The last 5 years have seen a revolution in the development of new treatments for advanced melanoma, with oncogene targeted agents and checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies providing the first convincing evidence of a positive shift in overall survival. The role of oncolytic virotherapy in this rapidly evolving field has long been the subject of debate. However, it is with the development of Talimogene Laheparepvec (T-Vec), an intratumourally administered, genetically modified clinical herpes simplex virus-1 strain that has shown positive results in Phase III testing, that the potential for the use of OV may be realised.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review will outline some of the recent advances in the treatment of advanced melanoma, with a detailed overview of evidence surrounding the development of T-Vec. A literature search was conducted using the databases ‘Medline’ and ‘Pubmed’, including a subsequent manual search of references to identify papers of further relevance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As the pivotal OPTiM trial concludes, we outline some of the potential new directions for T-Vec and OV therapy and evaluate the ever-increasing role these novel agents are likely to play in the future landscape of cancer immunotherapy.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Appleton
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turnbull
authors.forename: Christy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: Hardev
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pandha
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melcher
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism