REVIEW ARTICLE


Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Melanoma and HIV Infection



Antonio Marra1, Giosuè Scognamiglio2, Ilaria Peluso3, Gerardo Botti2, Celeste Fusciello4, Amelia Filippelli5, Paolo A. Ascierto6, Stefano Pepe4, Francesco Sabbatino4, *
1 Department of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, via G. B. Pergolesi, 20052 Monza, Italy
2 Pathology Unit, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori “Fondazione G. Pascale”, via M. Semmola, 80131 Naples, Italy
3 Hematology Unit, Department of Clinical and Surgical Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, via S. Pansini, 80131 Naples, Italy
4 Oncology Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, via Allende, 84081 Baronissi (Salerno), Italy
5 Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, via Allende, 84081 Baronissi (Salerno), Italy
6 Unit of Melanoma, Cancer Immunotherapy and Innovative Therapy, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori “Fondazione G. Pascale”, via M. Semmola, 80131 Naples, Italy


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Creative Commons License
© 2017 Marra et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Correspondence: Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Medicine Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi (Salerno), Italy; Tel: +39089672710; Fax: +39089672539; E-mail: fsabbatino@unisa.it


Abstract

Introduction:

Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors increases the overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma regardless of their oncogene addicted mutations. However, no data is available from clinical trials of effective therapies in subgroups of melanoma patients that carry chronic infective diseases such as HIV. Evidences suggest a key role of the immune checkpoint molecules as a mechanism of immune escape not only from melanoma but also from HIV host immune response.

Conclusion:

In this article, firstly, we will describe the role of the immune checkpoint molecules in HIV chronic infection. Secondly, we will summarize the most relevant clinical evidences utilizing immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of melanoma patients. Lastly, we will discuss the potential implications as well as the potential applications of immune checkpoint molecule-based immunotherapy in patients with melanoma and HIV infection.

Keywords: Melanoma, HIV, Immunotherapy, Immune checkpoint molecules, Infection, Survival.