Immunotherapy targets in melanoma and other cancer types
A Talk by Prof. Dr Antonio Facchiano (Secretary General, EUSTM)
About this Talk
Immunotherapy targets in melanoma and other cancer types
Antonio Facchiano, Pier Giorgio Natali, Francesca Scatozza, Claudia Giampietri
Immunotherapy is currently changing the therapeutic scenario in many cancer types. Several targets have been identified and are currently under clinical investigation; however, only 3 main targets, namely CTLA4, PD1 and PD-L1, are recognized by drugs currently approved for the treatment of a number of solid tumors. In the present study we investigated, in human biopsies form 31 cancer types and corresponding controls, the expression levels of nine immunotherapy targets, namely: CTLA4, PD1, PD-L1, LAG3, TIM3, OX40, GITR, 4-1BB and TIGIT. They are all targets of existing drugs, currently under clinical investigation in several malignancies.
According to data derived from public databases containing data from more than 15 thousand patients and controls, the expression levels of these targets was found to be significantly modified in several cancer types, and specific profiles showed a potential role as molecular markers in skin melanoma (SKCM), in pancreas adenocarcinoma (PAAD) and in testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT).
Even more interestingly, the expression levels of all nine targets was found to associate with strong survival improvement, in skin melanoma (SKCM), testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT), and in thymoma (THYM) patients.
Expression and survival data were validated in independent databases. The results reported here strongly support the hypothesis that already existing drugs targeting these molecules may have a role in the treatments of these cancer types.
