Expression of IL4 Induced Gene 1 in Patients With Cutaneous Melanoma: Value in Prognosis and/or in Predictive Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Author(s):  
Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4289
Author(s):  
Luca G. Campana ◽  
Barbara Peric ◽  
Matteo Mascherini ◽  
Romina Spina ◽  
Christian Kunte ◽  
...  

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an effective locoregional therapy for cutaneous melanoma metastases and has been safely combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors in preliminary experiences. Since ECT is known to induce immunogenic cell death, its combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors might be beneficial. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ECT on cutaneous melanoma metastases in combination with pembrolizumab. We undertook a retrospective matched cohort analysis of stage IIIC–IV melanoma patients, included in the International Network for sharing practices of ECT (InspECT) and the Slovenian Cancer Registry. We compared the outcome of patients who received the following treatments: (a) pembrolizumab alone, (b) pembrolizumab plus ECT, and (c) ECT. The groups were matched for age, sex, performance status, and size of skin metastases. The local objective response rate (ORR) was higher in the pembrolizumab-ECT group than in the pembrolizumab group (78% and 39%, p < 0.001). The 1 year local progression-free survival (LPFS) rates were 86% and 51% (p < 0.001), and the 1 year systemic PFS rates were 64% and 39%, respectively (p = 0.034). The 1 year overall survival (OS) rates were 88% and 64%, respectively (p = 0.006). Our results suggest that skin-directed therapy with ECT improves superficial tumor control in melanoma patients treated with pembrolizumab. Interestingly, we observed longer PFS and OS in the pembrolizumab-ECT group than in the pembrolizumab group. These findings warrant prospective confirmation.


Immunotherapy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Susok ◽  
Dominik Reinert ◽  
Carsten Lukas ◽  
Eggert Stockfleth ◽  
Thilo Gambichler

Aim: To find out whether treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) results in volume increase of the spleen. Patient & methods: We studied 49 stage III and IV melanoma patients with an indication for ICIs. Computer tomographic-assisted volumetry of spleens was performed. Results: After 3 months, median spleen volume was significantly increased when compared with the baseline volume. At 3 months, the increase of spleen volume was significantly associated with the use of ipilimumab and ipilimumab plus nivolumab. There was no significant association between spleen volume increase and clinical parameters. Conclusion: The median spleen volume of patients with cutaneous melanoma increases during the first months of ICI treatment, which was particularly attributable to the use of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-CTLA-4/anti-PD-1 regimens.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Fujimura ◽  
Yumi Kambayashi ◽  
Kentaro Ohuchi ◽  
Ryo Amagai ◽  
Yota Sato ◽  
...  

Since the incidence of mucosal melanoma is higher in the Japanese population compared to Caucasians, and since mucosal melanoma possesses a lower mutation burden compared to cutaneous melanoma, the efficacy of anti-PD1 antibody (Ab) monotherapy for mucosal melanoma is limited. Therefore, other targeting molecules that enhance the anti-tumor effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors are needed. In this report, we present a case with anti-PD1 Ab-resistant recurrent malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity successfully treated with nivolu­mab, ipilimumab plus denosumab combination therapy.


Author(s):  
Japbani K. Nanda ◽  
Stephen W. Dusza ◽  
Cristian Navarrete-Dechent ◽  
Konstantinos Liopyris ◽  
Ashfaq A. Marghoob ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoxuan Ying ◽  
Anqi Lin ◽  
Junyi Liang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Peng Luo

BackgroundImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown remarkable success in treating skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM); however, the response to treatment varies greatly between patients. Considering that the efficacy of ICI treatment is influenced by many factors, we selected the Fibrosheath interacting protein 2 (FSIP2) gene and systematically analyzed its potential to predict the efficacy of ICI treatment.MethodsPatient data were collected from an ICI treatment cohort (n = 120) and a The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-SKCM cohort (n = 467). The data were divided into an FSIP2-mutant (MT) group and FSIP2-wild-type (WT) group according to FSIP2 mutation status. In this study, we analyzed the patients’ overall survival rate, tumor mutational burden (TMB), neoantigen load (NAL), copy number variation (CNV), cell infiltration data and immune-related genes. We used gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to delineate biological pathways and processes associated with the efficacy of immunotherapy.ResultsThe efficacy of ICI treatment of SKCM patients with FSIP2 mutation was significantly better than that of patients without FSIP2 mutation. The patients in the FSIP2-MT group had higher tumor immunogenicity and lower regulatory T cell (Treg) infiltration. Results of GSEA showed that pathways related to tumor progression (MAPK and FGFR), immunomodulation, and IL-2 synthesis inhibition were significantly downregulated in the FSIP2-MT group.ConclusionOur research suggests that the FSIP2 gene has the potential to predict the efficacy of ICI treatment. The high tumor immunogenicity and low Treg levels observed may be closely related to the fact that patients with FSIP2-MT can benefit from ICI treatment.


Cancers ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Francesca Comito ◽  
Rachele Pagani ◽  
Giada Grilli ◽  
Francesca Sperandi ◽  
Andrea Ardizzoni ◽  
...  

The prognosis of patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma has radically changed in the past decade. Nevertheless, primary or acquired resistance to systemic treatment occurs in many cases, highlighting the need for novel treatment strategies. This review has the purpose of summarizing the current area of interest for the treatment of metastatic or unresectable advanced cutaneous melanoma, including data from recently completed or ongoing clinical trials. The main fields of investigation include the identification of new immune checkpoint inhibitors (anti-LAG3, GITR agonist and anti-TIGIT), adoptive cell therapy, vaccines, engineered TCR therapy, IL-2 agonists, novel targets for targeted therapy (new MEK or RAF inhibitors, HDAC, IDO, ERK, Axl, ATR and PARP inhibitors), or combination strategies (antiangiogenetic agents plus immune checkpoint inhibitors, intra-tumoral immunotherapy in combination with systemic therapy). In many cases, only preliminary efficacy data from early phase trials are available, which require confirmation in larger patient cohorts. A more in-depth knowledge of the biological effects of the molecules and identifying predictive biomarkers remain crucial for selecting patient populations most likely to benefit from novel emerging treatment strategies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoxuan Ying ◽  
Anqi Lin ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Peng Luo

Abstract Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been remarkably successful in skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM), however the response to treatment varies greatly among different patients. Considering that the efficacy of ICI treatment is affected by many factors, we selected the Fibrosheath interacting protein 2 (FSIP2) gene and systematically analyzed its potential as a predictor of ICI treatment prognosis. Methods Patient data were collected from an ICI treatment cohort (n = 120) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-SKCM cohort (n = 467). The data was divided into an FSIP2-mutant (MT) group and FSIP2-wild-type (WT) group according to the FSIP2 mutation status. In this study we analyzed the patients’ overall survival rate, tumor mutational burden (TMB), neoantigen load (NAL), copy number variation (CNV), cell infiltration data and immune-related genes. We used gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to delineate biological pathways and processes associated with the prognosis of immunotherapy. Results The prognosis of SKCM patients with FSIP2-MT receiving ICIs was significantly better than that of those with FSIP2-WT. The patients in the FSIP2-MT group had higher tumor immunogenicity and lower regulatory T cell (Treg) infiltration. Results of GSEA showed that pathways related to tumor progression (MAPK and FGFR), immunomodulation, and IL-2 synthesis inhibition were significantly downregulated in the FSIP2-MT group. Conclusion Our research suggests that the FSIP2 gene has the potential to predict the prognosis of ICI treatment. The higher tumor immunogenicity and lower Treg levels may be closely related to the fact that patients with FSIP2-MT can benefit more from ICI treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e21594-e21594
Author(s):  
Jinchun Wu ◽  
Zhengxi He ◽  
Xianyu Liu ◽  
Yanhua Mou ◽  
Jingchen Lu ◽  
...  

e21594 Background: Skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) has a high incidence and mortality. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are promising but show heterogeneous efficacy in the SKCM treatment. T cell-promoted tumor ferroptosis is a vital anti-tumor mechanism of ICIs. Acyl-CoA synthetase long chain family member 4 (ACSL4) can sensitize ferroptosis by facilitating lipid peroxidation. So we proposed that ACSL4 is a positive predictor for ICIs efficacy and correlated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) in SKCM. Methods: The responses of SKCM patients to ICIs were evaluated from Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) using the gene expression data of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-SKCM downloaded from UCSC Xena browser and datasets within TIDE. The correlation between ACLS4 expression and survival was obtained from the Online consensus Survival webserver for Skin Cutaneous Melanoma (OSskcm) and TIDE databases. The relationships between ACSL4 and TIICs were evaluated using the database of Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2.0 (TIMER2.0). Results: ACSL4 expression was positively correlated with the predicted responder of ICIs in TCGA dataset (R = 0.12, p = 0.0093) and therapy outcomes of ICIs in Gide2019_PD1+CTLA4 (Progression-free survival(PFS), contimuous z = -2.39, p = 0.0169) and Lauss2017_ACT (PFS, contimuous z = -2.08, p = 0.0371; overall survival(OS), contimuous z = -2.96, p = 0.00309). Favorable OS was observed in the patients with high ACSL4 expression in the TCGA (HR = 0.6567, 95% CI = 0.5015̃0.8599, p = 0.0022) and GSE19234 (HR = 0.4135, 95% CI = 0.1748̃0.9784, p = 0.0445) from OSskcm and the GSE8401 (contimuous z = -2,24, p = 0.025) and GSE54467 (contimuous z = -2.26, p = 0.0239) from TIDE database. TIICs including CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells (memory, Th2), B cells, neutrophils, monocytes, M1 macrophages, and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) were positively associated with the expression level of ACSL4. Conclusions: High ACSL4 expression maybe indicates a good response to ICIs and long survival in SKCM. The increased T cells within the tumor microenvironment correlated with high ACSL4 expression possibly implied the synergism effects of ferroptosis and ICIs, deserving further investigation. Keywords: ACSL4, ICIs, TIICs, SKCM.


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