Lynn M. Schuchter

TL;DR: Dabrafenib and trametinib were safely combined at full monotherapy doses, and the rate of pyrexia was increased with combination therapy, whereas the rates of proliferative skin lesions was nonsignificantly reduced.

TL;DR: Vemurafenib induces clinical responses in more than half of patients with previously treated BRAF V600-mutant metastatic melanoma, and the median overall survival in this study with a long follow-up was approximately 16 months.

TL;DR: Major tumour regressions are reported in a subset of patients with metastatic melanoma treated with an anti-CTLA4 antibody and radiation and reproduced this effect in mouse models, showing that PD-L1 on melanoma cells allows tumours to escape anti- NCTLA4-based therapy, and the combination of radiation, anti- CTLA4 and anti-PD-L 1 promotes response and immunity through distinct mechanisms.

TL;DR: It is reported that metastatic melanomas release extracellular vesicles, mostly in the form of exosomes, that carry PD-L1 on their surface, suggesting a mechanism by which tumours could evade the immunesystem, and the potential application ofExosomal PD- L1 to monitor patient responses to checkpoint therapies.

TL;DR: Blood profiling of peripheral blood from patients with stage IV melanoma before and after treatment with the PD-1-targeting antibody pembrolizumab is used to identify pharmacodynamic changes in circulating exhausted-phenotype CD8 T cells (Tex cells) and identify a clinically accessible potential on-treatment predictor of response to PD- 1 blockade.