Title:A Role of Immunotherapy in Metastatic Malignant Melanoma
Volume: 12
Issue: 3
Author(s): Timothy Allen and Lavanya Gundrajakuppam
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Immunotherapy, malignant melanoma, metastasis, T cells, Adoptive cell therapies (ACT), oncolytic viruses, Malignant melanoma, melanocytes.
Abstract: Malignant melanoma is a tumor of the melanocytes of the skin with different types, that can metastasize to
many organs including the brain at the advanced stages. Metastasis to brain is most dreadful complication, and at times
untreatable as it’s noted in the late stages. Therefore, tremendous effort has been made in the past decades to treat
metastatic melanoma patients more efficiently. Although chemotherapy is one of the treatment options, it also interferes
with all rapidly dividing cells including the non-cancerous cells; therefore one should consider the side effects. As there is
lot of evidence that melanoma is immunogenic, a concept of immunotherapy has risen. Immunotherapy uses molecules of
the body's own immune system and disrupts the growth of cancer cells has gained a lot of attention in the past two
decades. Adoptive cell therapies (ACT), vaccines, viruses, and cytokine administration in immunotherapy stimulate T
cells to recognize and destroy the cancer cells. This article is a brief review of various molecules and strategies that are
currently used in immunotherapy against malignant melanoma. These include the anti–Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4
(CTLA4) antibody, cytokine administration, vaccine therapy, oncolytic viruses, adoptive cell therapy, and inhibitor of
STAT3 activation.
