Accuracy of PET-CT to Assess the Extent of Nodal Disease in Patients with Clinical Stage III Melanoma Following Neoadjuvant Treatment.

Background: Clinical stage III melanoma has a high recurrence rate following surgical dissection. The use of neoadjuvant treatment has been shown to improve long-term outcomes when compared with up-front surgery, with the pathological response being the best predictor. Biomarkers predicting responses and possibly allowing surgical de-escalation are missing.

NeoACTIVATE Arm C: Phase II trial of neoadjuvant atezolizumab and tiragolumab for high-risk operable Stage III melanoma.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant ± adjuvant immunotherapy improves event-free survival (EFS) versus adjuvant immunotherapy alone for high-risk resectable Stage III melanoma. However, the optimal regimen balancing efficacy and tolerability is unknown. T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) is a promising immune checkpoint whose therapeutic potential in Stage III melanoma is underexplored.

Retreatment with PARPi following stem cell transplant in a patient with recurrent ovarian cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Objective: As the use of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) increases in the management of advanced ovarian cancer, therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may be observed more frequently. Strategies for management of this unique condition are needed.

Methods: In this case report, we demonstrate the case of a patient with advanced ovarian cancer and a pathogenic BRCA1 mutation who developed MDS following 4 years of maintenance PARPi.

Multidisciplinary Management of Anorectal Melanoma: a Retrospective Analysis of Surgical and Systemic Therapies from the National Cancer Database.

Purpose: Anorectal melanoma (ARM) represents a problematic scenario due to a 5-year overall survival (OS) rate below 20% and its increasing incidence. Due to its comparable OS, local surgery (LS) has replaced radical surgery (RS). Adjuvant chemotherapy (Adj-CHT) and adjuvant immunotherapy (Adj-IT) are common treatments for ARM, while neoadjuvant immunotherapy (Neo-IT) has not been investigated yet.

Neoadjuvant cobimetinib and atezolizumab with or without vemurafenib for stage III melanoma: outcomes and the impact of the microbiome from the NeoACTIVATE trial.

Background: Neoadjuvant treatment has become standard for patients with high-risk operable stage III melanoma, but the optimal regimen is unknown. Targeted therapy approaches yield high pathological response rates, while immunotherapy regimens show favorable recurrence-free survival (RFS). NeoACTIVATE was designed to address whether a neoadjuvant combination of both targeted therapy and immunotherapy might leverage the benefits of each.

Plasma exchange and radiation resensitize immunotherapy-refractory melanoma: a phase I trial.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are effective for advanced melanoma. However, most develop ICI resistance. Tumor-derived soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) and other immunosuppressive factors drive resistance.

Phase I study of pembrolizumab in combination with ibrutinib for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been transformative in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, but primary and secondary resistance to ICI treatment is common. One key mechanism for ICI resistance is the skewing of the immune response from a cytotoxic (Th1) to a chronic inflammatory (Th2) profile. The small molecule ibrutinib is a dual-target agent that inhibits Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) and Interleukin-2-inducible T-cell Kinase (ITK), a key regulator of Th2 immunity.

The oncolytic adenovirus TILT-123 with pembrolizumab in platinum resistant or refractory ovarian cancer: the phase 1a PROTA trial.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated modest efficacy as a monotherapy in ovarian cancer. Originally developed to improve efficacy of T-cell therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell transfer, TILT-123 (Ad5/3-E2F-D24-hTNFα-IRES-hIL-2) is a serotype chimeric oncolytic adenovirus encoding tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-2. Here we report results from phase 1a of PROTA, a single-arm, multicentre dose escalation trial with TILT-123 and pembrolizumab in female patients with platinum resistant or refractory ovarian cancer (NCT05271318).

A comparison of isolated limb infusion/perfusion, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and intralesional therapy as first-line treatment for patients with melanoma in-transit metastases.

Background: Isolated limb infusion and perfusion (ILI/ILP) has been a mainstay treatment for unresectable melanoma in-transit metastases (ITM), but increased use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and intralesional therapy (talimogene laherparepvec [TVEC]) introduced several different management options. This study compares first-line ILI/ILP, ICI, and TVEC.

Methods: Retrospective review from 12 international institutions included patients treated from 1990 to 2022 with first-line ILI/ILP, ICI, or TVEC for unresectable melanoma ITM.

Single intravenous administration of oncolytic adenovirus TILT-123 results in systemic tumor transduction and immune response in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Background: A limitation of approved oncolytic viruses is their requirement for intratumoral (i.t.) injection.

Treatment outcomes of vulvar and vaginal melanoma at an NCCN institution between 1993 and 2021.

Background: Vulvar melanoma and vaginal melanoma are rare and difficult to treat. We describe the last three decades in a cohort predominantly treated surgically with adjuvant therapy.

Methods: All new patients between 1993 and 2021 followed until 2024.

Vaccination with folate receptor-alpha peptides in patients with ovarian cancer following response to platinum-based therapy: A randomized, multicenter clinical trial.

Objective: Folate receptor alpha (FRα) is overexpressed on >90% of high-grade epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC). Targeting FRα with antibody-drug conjugates has proven utility in the platinum-resistant setting. It is also a potential therapeutic target for immuno-oncologic agents, such as peptide vaccines that work primarily via adaptive and humoral immunity.

Phase II trial of pembrolizumab and epacadostat in recurrent clear cell carcinoma of the ovary: An NRG oncology study GY016.

Introduction: Early reports of PD-1 inhibition in ovarian clear cell carcinomas (OCCC) demonstrate promising response. We evaluated the combination of pembrolizumab and IDO-1 inhibitor epacadostat in patients with recurrent OCCC.

Methods: This single arm, two-stage, phase 2 trial included those with measurable disease and 1-3 prior regimens.

A Phase I Trial of Nab-Paclitaxel/Bevacizumab (AB160) Nano-Immunoconjugate Therapy for Gynecologic Malignancies.

Purpose: AB160 is a 160-nm nano-immunoconjugate consisting of nab-paclitaxel (ABX) nanoparticles noncovalently coated with bevacizumab (BEV) for targeted delivery into tissues expressing high levels of VEGF. Preclinical data showed that AB160 resulted in greater tumor targeting and tumor inhibition compared with sequential treatment with ABX then BEV. Given individual drug activity, we investigated the safety and toxicity of AB160 in patients with gynecologic cancers.

Neoadjuvant cobimetinib and atezolizumab with or without vemurafenib for high-risk operable Stage III melanoma: the Phase II NeoACTIVATE trial.

Both targeted therapies and immunotherapies provide benefit in resected Stage III melanoma. We hypothesized that the combination of targeted and immunotherapy given prior to therapeutic lymph node dissection (TLND) would be tolerable and drive robust pathologic responses. In NeoACTIVATE (NCT03554083), a Phase II trial, patients with clinically evident resectable Stage III melanoma received either 12 weeks of neoadjuvant vemurafenib, cobimetinib, and atezolizumab (BRAF-mutated, Cohort A, n = 15), or cobimetinib and atezolizumab (BRAF-wild-type, Cohort B, n = 15) followed by TLND and 24 weeks of adjuvant atezolizumab.

Proton Craniospinal Irradiation with Immunotherapy in Two Patients with Leptomeningeal Disease from Melanoma.

Introduction: Proton craniospinal irradiation (pCSI) is a treatment option for leptomeningeal disease (LMD), which permits whole neuroaxis treatment while minimizing toxicity. Despite this, patients inevitably experience progression. Adding systemic therapy to pCSI may improve outcomes.

A phase I oncolytic virus trial with vesicular stomatitis virus expressing human interferon beta and tyrosinase related protein 1 administered intratumorally and intravenously in uveal melanoma: safety, efficacy, and T cell responses.

Introduction: Metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM) has a poor prognosis and treatment options are limited. These patients do not typically experience durable responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Oncolytic viruses (OV) represent a novel approach to immunotherapy for patients with MUM.

Convalescent Adaptive Immunity Is Highly Heterogenous after SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

The optimal detection strategies for effective convalescent immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination remain unclear. The objective of this study was to characterize convalescent immunity targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using a multiparametric approach. At the beginning of the pandemic, we recruited 30 unvaccinated convalescent donors who had previously been infected with COVID-19 and 7 unexposed asymptomatic controls.

Th17-inducing dendritic cell vaccines stimulate effective CD4 T cell-dependent antitumor immunity in ovarian cancer that overcomes resistance to immune checkpoint blockade.

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC), a highly lethal cancer in women, has a 48% 5-year overall survival rate. Prior studies link the presence of IL-17 and Th17 T cells in the tumor microenvironment to improved survival in OC patients. To determine if Th17-inducing vaccines are therapeutically effective in OC, we created a murine model of Th17-inducing dendritic cell (DC) (Th17-DC) vaccination generated by stimulating IL-15 while blocking p38 MAPK in bone marrow-derived DCs, followed by antigen pulsing.