Frontiers in Medicine (Jun 2019)

Successful Treatment of Unresectable Advanced Melanoma by Administration of Nivolumab With Ipilimumab Before Primary Tumor Resection

  • Taku Fujimura,
  • Yumi Kambayashi,
  • Yota Sato,
  • Kayo Tanita,
  • Ryo Amagai,
  • Akira Hashimoto,
  • Takanori Hidaka,
  • Setsuya Aiba

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2019.00140
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

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Ipilimumab, in combination with nivolumab, is one of the promising drugs that enhance the anti-tumor immune response of patients with advanced melanoma. Since the co-administration of nivolumab with ipilimumab in the neoadjuvant setting expands melanoma-reactive T cells at the primary site of melanoma and has a high rate of histological complete response, the pre-surgical administration of this combination could be the optimal therapy for unresectable advanced melanoma. In this report, a case of unresectable advanced melanoma treated successfully with administration of nivolumab with ipilimumab before primary tumor resection is presented. In addition, CD8+ T cells increased among the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes that were surrounding melanoma cells and caspase 3+ cells. The present case suggests that pre-surgical administration of nivolumab with ipilimumab could be the optimal therapy for the treatment of unresectable advanced melanoma.

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