Onkológia 4/2016

Current possibilities of immunotherapy in the treatment of malignant melanoma

Although the incidence of malignant melanoma is increasing, in most cases it is diagnosed at the early stage. In the majority of patients with stage IIIC and IV disease a systematic treatment is required. Approaches that have been shown to provide clinically important benefit for patients with metastatic melanoma in appropriately selected patients include immunotherapy with ipilimumab, nivolumab or pembrolizumab. BRAF and MEK inhibitors are approved agents that, as monotherapy or as combination, have been associated with survival advantage as compared chemotherapy in patients whose tumors contain a V600 mutation in the BRAF gene. These drugs improve survival. Chemotherapy does not have an established role in the initial management of patients with advanced melanoma.

Keywords: malignant melanoma, treatment, BRAF inhibitor, MEK inhibitor, ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, chemotherapy