Browsing by Subject "Advanced melanoma"

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Open Access
Genetic risk analysis of a patient with fulminant autoimmune type 1 diabetes mellitus secondary to combination ipilimumab and nivolumab immunotherapy.
(J Immunother Cancer, 2016) Lowe, JR; Salama, A; Perry, DJ; Matthews, CE; Moss, L; Hanks, BA
BACKGROUND: Checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy is becoming an effective treatment modality for an increasing number of malignancies. As a result, autoinflammatory side-effects are also being observed more commonly in the clinic. We are currently unable to predict which patients will develop more severe toxicities associated with these treatment regimens. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a patient with stage IV melanoma that developed rapid onset autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) in response to combination ipilimumab and nivolumab immunotherapy. At the time of the patient's presentation with diabetes ketoacidosis, a confirmed anti-GAD antibody seroconversion was noted. Longer-term follow-up of this patient has demonstrated a durable complete response based on PET CT imaging along with a persistently undetectable C-peptide level. Single nucleotide polymorphism gene sequencing and HLA risk allele analysis has revealed the patient to lack any established genetic predisposition to the development of autoimmune T1D. CONCLUSIONS: While larger studies are necessary to better understand the role of genetic risk factors for the development of autoimmune toxicities in those patients undergoing checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, these results suggest that pre-screening patients for known T1D risk alleles may not be indicated. Additional investigation is needed to determine whether an approach such as T cell receptor clonotypic analysis to identify the presence of autoreactive T cell clones may be an effective approach for predicting which patients are at risk for the development of autoinflammatory toxicities while undergoing checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy.
Open Access
Rapid complete response of metastatic melanoma in a patient undergoing ipilimumab immunotherapy in the setting of active ulcerative colitis.
(J Immunother Cancer, 2015) Bostwick, A Doran; Salama, April K; Hanks, Brent A
While blockade of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) T cell regulatory receptor has become a commonly utilized strategy in the management of advanced melanoma, many questions remain regarding the use of this agent in patient populations with autoimmune disease. We present a case involving the treatment of a patient with stage IV melanoma and ulcerative colitis (UC) with anti-CTLA-4 antibody immunotherapy. Upon initial treatment, the patient developed grade III colitis requiring tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) blocking antibody therapy, however re-treatment with anti-CTLA-4 antibody following a total colectomy resulted in a rapid complete response accompanied by the development of a tracheobronchitis, a previously described extra-intestinal manifestation of UC. This case contributes to the evolving literature on the use of checkpoint inhibitors in patients also suffering from autoimmune disease, supports future clinical trials investigating the use of these agents in patients with autoimmune diseases, and suggests that an understanding of the specific molecular pathways involved in a patient's autoimmune pathology may provide insight into the development of more effective novel combinatorial immunotherapeutic strategies.