Investigative Dermatology and Venereology ResearchInvestigative Dermatology and Venereology ResearchInvestigative Dermatology and Venereology ResearchInvestigative Dermatology and Venereology Research2381-0858Ommega Online PublishersNew Jersey, USA59410.15436/2381-0858.15.010Research ArticleMelanoma Immunotherapy: Mechanisms and OpportunitiesMelanoma Immunotherapy: Mechanisms and OpportunitiesDavid E.Fisher 1Cutaneous Biology Research Center Massachusetts General Hospital Charlestown Massachusetts USA 2Department of Dermatology Massachusetts General Hospital Boston Massachusetts USA 3Department of Biomedical Engineering Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Maryland USA Editor* E-mail: dfisher3@partners.org
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
20152611201512IDVR-15-RW-59429092015201120152015Creative Commons Attribution LicenseThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. nbsp emsp emsp Immune checkpoint blockade via inhibition of Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Antigen 4 CTLA-4 and Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor PD-1 has demonstrated significant clinical benefits in treating melanoma and other types of cancers and has since become a very progressive field in cancer research Despite durable tumor regression observed in some patients response rates to CTLA-4 and PD-1 still have room for improvement There are many additional immune modulatory pathways including inhibitory molecules expressed on tumor cells and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines by lymphatic cells that could potentially be targeted to enhance the anti-tumor responses to PD-1 and CTLA-4 Here we review the current status of CTLA-4 and PD-1 inhibitors in the treatment of melanoma and several therapeutic targets and strategies that may synergize with checkpoint blockades 10