Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 22;9(1):1738814.
doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2020.1738814.

Response and survival of metastatic melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibition for recurrent disease on adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination

Wouter W van Willigen  1   2 , Martine Bloemendal  1   2 , Marye J Boers-Sonderen  2 , Jan Willem B de Groot  3 , Rutger H T Koornstra  2   4 , Astrid A M van der Veldt  5   6 , John B A G Haanen  7 , Steve Boudewijns  8 , Gerty Schreibelt  1 , Winald R Gerritsen  2 , I Jolanda M de Vries  1   2 , Kalijn F Bol  1   2
Affiliations

Response and survival of metastatic melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibition for recurrent disease on adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination

Wouter W van Willigen et al. Oncoimmunology. .

Abstract

Vaccination with autologous dendritic cells (DC) loaded ex vivo with melanoma-associated antigens is currently being tested as an adjuvant treatment modality for resected locoregional metastatic (stage III) melanoma. Based on its mechanism of action, DC vaccination might potentiate the clinical efficacy of concurrent or sequential immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of ICI administered following recurrent disease during, or after, adjuvant DC vaccination. To this end, we retrospectively analyzed clinical responses of 51 melanoma patients with either irresectable stage III or stage IV disease treated with first- or second-line ICI following recurrence on adjuvant DC vaccination. Patients were analyzed according to the form of ICI administered: PD-1 inhibition monotherapy (nivolumab or pembrolizumab), ipilimumab monotherapy or combined treatment with ipilimumab and nivolumab. Treatment with first- or second-line PD-1 inhibition monotherapy after recurrence on adjuvant DC vaccination resulted in a response rate of 52%. In patients treated with ipilimumab monotherapy and ipilimumab-nivolumab response rates were 35% and 75%, respectively. In conclusion, ICI is effective in melanoma patients with recurrent disease on adjuvant DC vaccination.

Keywords: Melanoma; adjuvant; dendritic cell; immunotherapy; vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
First- and second-line treatment in metastatic melanoma patients following recurrent disease on adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination. First- and second-line treatment is shown for the patients in the three different treatment groups. Three patients received first-line PD-1 inhibition monotherapy followed by second-line ipilimumab monotherapy, another three patients were treated with first-line ipilimumab monotherapy after which they received second-line PD-1 inhibition monotherapy. These six patients were analyzed in both the PD-1 inhibition monotherapy group (red) and the ipilimumab monotherapy group (blue). Therefore, the three treatment groups combined consisted of 57 analyzed patients
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Progression-free and overall survival of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibition following recurrence on adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination. Kaplan–Meier curves showing the progression-free and overall survival following PD-1 inhibition monotherapy (panels a, b); ipilimumab monotherapy (panels c, d) and ipilimumab-nivolumab (panels e, f) after recurrence on adjuvant DC vaccination. Survival data of first- and second-line therapy combined are shown in these panels
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gershenwald JE, Scolyer RA.. Melanoma staging: American joint committee on cancer (AJCC) 8th edition and beyond. Ann Surg Oncol. 2018;25(8):2105–8. doi: 10.1245/s10434-018-6513-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Robert C, Thomas L, Bondarenko I, O’Day S, Weber J, Garbe C, Lebbe C, Baurain J-F, Testori A, Grob -J-J, et al. Ipilimumab plus dacarbazine for previously untreated metastatic melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(26):2517–2526. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1104621. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Robert C, Long GV, Brady B, Dutriaux C, Maio M, Mortier L, Hassel JC, Rutkowski P, McNeil C, Kalinka-Warzocha E, et al. Nivolumab in previously untreated melanoma without BRAF mutation. N Engl J Med. 2015;372(4):320–330. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1412082. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Larkin J, Hodi FS, Wolchok JD.. Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab or monotherapy in untreated melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(13):1270–1271. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1504030. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Robert C, Schachter J, Long GV, Arance A, Grob JJ, Mortier L, Daud A, Carlino MS, McNeil C, Lotem M, et al. Pembrolizumab versus ipilimumab in advanced melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2015;372(26):2521–2532. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1503093. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances