Domenico Mallardo, MD, on Anti-CTLA4 Agents in Melanoma

Domenico Mallardo, MD, Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Fondazione Pascale" in Naples, discusses results from his trial – designed to evaluate anti-CTLA4 agents in patients with melanoma who relapsed on treatment with ipilimumab (Yervoy), which was presented at the 34th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2019).

Transcript:

I came to the SITC meeting (to talk) about my results, updating on the study of melanoma patients treated with immuno-checkpoint inhibitor. And my study was focused on the gene profile analysis on 3 different cohorts of patients treated with immunotherapy. We analyzed our group, these 3 different cohorts of patients treated with immunotherapy, dividing in patients treated with the anti-CTLA4, I’m talking about ipilimumab (Yervoy) treatment and another cohort of patients treated with anti-PD-1 in the second-line (setting) after ipilimumab progression. Another cohort of treatment naïve patients treated with an anti-PD-1 in the first-line (setting). 

(The study was in collaration with the Istituto Nazionale Tumori - IRCCS - "Fondazione G.Pascale"). When we carry out this kind of gene profile analysis and the results are very interesting because we found that there is a different kind of signature for each different cohort of patients analyzed. Moreover, in some cohorts of patients treated with anti-PD-1, we found that there are different genes that are strongly related with the outcome…

The study was carried out on tumor tissue on melanoma patients treated with immunotherapy. The next step will be in the analysis made on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC). So, I’m talking about the blood, genetics from blood just for match the different kind of results and to understand the benefit and the mechanism behind the resistance of immunotherapy.

What we want to do (is find) some predictive biomarkers that can be strongly related with the outcome to treatment with the immuno-checkpoint inhibitors.