MISIPI study: Melanoma ImmunoScore evaluation in patients treated with IPIlimumab

Excerpt

Increasing evidence has supported the hypothesis that cancer development is influenced by the host immune system. Immune infiltrates of the primary tumors and metastases are independent prognostic biomarkers and may represent predictive factors, suggesting that pre-therapeutic immune response determines the efficacy of different immunotherapies [1]. An immune-classification of tumors based on a scoring system of density and location of immune-cells within the tumor has been recently proposed in human colorectal cancers, where a high density of CD3+, CD8+ memory T lymphocytes in the primary tumor is associated with long disease free and overall survival and low risk of relapse and metastasis [2, 3]. The impact of the immune score needs to be evaluated in other tumor types given the universal importance of the immune system in cancers. We have focused on the prognostic and predictive value of the immunoscore in patients with advanced melanoma treated with Ipilimumab in the previous 2-3 years, and correlated it with outcomes and response to the treatment. …