Immunogenicity and Biomarker Analysis of Neoadjuvant Ipilimumab for Melanoma

Summary

Ipilimumab is a manufactured monoclonal antibody, much like the antibodies usually made by the human body to fight off infection; however it is not known why the human body does not "fight off" a cancerous tumor. The idea behind developing this experimental drug is to stimulate the immune system to make antibodies to kill cancer cells. This research study is considered "experimental" because it has not received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of this type of cancer. This monoclonal antibody has been specifically made to block Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA4), which is a protein found on cells of the immune system. CTLA4 seems to slow down the immune response, so blocking it with an anti-CTLA4 antibody may make the immune response more active. The purpose of this study is to see if Ipilimumab affects the response of the patient's immune system toward their cancer.

Timeline

Start

2009-12

Primary completion

2013-07-17

Completion

2017-09-26

Publications

• Kobeissi I, Eljilany I, Achkar T, LaFramboise WA, Santana-Santos L, Tarhini AA. A Tumor and Immune-Related Micro-RNA Signature Predicts Relapse-Free Survival of Melanoma Patients Treated with Ipilimumab. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 3;24(9):8167. doi: 10.3390/ijms24098167.
• Retseck J, Nasr A, Lin Y, Lin H, Mendiratta P, Butterfield LH, Tarhini AA. Long term impact of CTLA4 blockade immunotherapy on regulatory and effector immune responses in patients with melanoma. J Transl Med. 2018 Jul 4;16(1):184. doi: 10.1186/s12967-018-1563-y.
• Tarhini AA, Zahoor H, Lin Y, Malhotra U, Sander C, Butterfield LH, Kirkwood JM. Baseline circulating IL-17 predicts toxicity while TGF-beta1 and IL-10 are prognostic of relapse in ipilimumab neoadjuvant therapy of melanoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2015 Sep 15;3:39. doi: 10.1186/s40425-015-0081-1. eCollection 2015.

Drugs

Indications