title: Harnessing the immune system for the treatment of melanoma: current status and future prospects.
abstract: When malignant melanoma is diagnosed early, surgical resection is the intervention of choice and is often curative, but many patients present with unresectable disease at later stages. Due to its complex etiology paired with well-documented chemoresistance and high metastatic potential, patients with advanced melanoma had a poor prognosis, and the treatment of this disease remained unsatisfactory for many years. Recently, targeted therapy, immune checkpoint inhibition, or combinatory approaches have revolutionized the therapeutic options of melanoma allowing considerable improvement in disease control and survival. In this review we will summarize these novel therapeutic strategies with particular focus on combinatory immunotherapies and further discuss recent data derived from immunogenomic studies and potential options to improve the therapeutic efficacy of immune modulatory approaches.
authors.affiliation: a Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guennoun
authors.affiliation: a Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Heba
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sidahmed
authors.affiliation: b Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maccalli
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Medical Immunology , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seliger
authors.affiliation: d Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO) , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Marincola
authors.affiliation: b Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bedognetti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D007155:Immunologic Factors; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
keywords: CTLA-4 inhibitors; Malignant melanoma; PD-1 inhibitor; PD-L1 inhibitors; abscopal effect; combination therapy; immune checkpoint blockade; immunotherapy