Immune Expression in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsies Helps Predict Melanoma Outcomes

Source: Cancer Network, November 2015

The expression of immune markers and T-cell subsets can help predict outcomes of sentinel lymph node (SLN)-positive melanoma patients, according to a new study presented at the Society for Melanoma Research 2015 International Congress, held November 18–21 in San Francisco.

SLN biopsy in melanoma patients is a highly accurate staging method and an important prognostic factor that requires a team approach, including nuclear medicine physicians, surgeons, and pathologists, said Hojabr Kakavand, a PhD candidate at the Melanoma Institute Australia, New South Wales, Australia. He noted that melanoma patients with SLN metastases have variable 5-year survival rates.

Programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have significantly improved clinical outcomes in unresectable metastatic melanoma, and are now being tested in the adjuvant setting in advanced-stage disease. However, the administration of adjuvant PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors in early-stage metastatic melanoma remains unclear, he said.