New therapeutic strategies including immunotherapy and selective molecular target inhibitors have brought about a new era in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma. In Japan, the immune ...checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab, the BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) vemurafenib, dabrafenib and MEK inhibitor (MEKi) trametinib have been available for the treatment of unresectable and metastatic melanoma. The BRAFi + MEKi combination shows high response rates (60–70%) and rapid response induction associated with symptom control, with a progression-free survival of 12 months. Nivolumab and pembrolizumab offer moderate response rates (30–40%) and long survival (3- to 5-year survival: 30–50%). In Japan, treatment options for the first-line setting frequently include nivolumab or pembrolizumab monotherapy and BRAFi + MEKi combinations (for patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma). Ipilimumab is included in the second-line setting, and the nivolumab + ipilimumab combination has not been approved yet in Japan. Although these medications have demonstrated impressive efficacy, the clinical trials and real-world data have shown that the clinical benefit is not fully satisfactory. We have to carefully manage a new class of adverse events due to these medicines. Moreover, biomarkers are emerging with which we can identify a population that would experience more benefits without severe adverse events.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Abstract
Treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors provides long-term survival for patients with advanced melanoma. Improvements in the overall survival of advanced melanoma patients have been ...achieved with anti-PD-1 monotherapy and anti-PD-1+ CTLA4 combination therapy, but there are still many issues to resolve. Acral, mucosal and uveal melanoma have been less responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors than cutaneous melanoma. For patients who have achieved a good response, it is still not known how long the anti-PD-1 therapy should be administered. Moreover, there is limited treatment for patients who relapse during or after adjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy. Here, we review the current evidence regarding the clinical effects of immunotherapy for advanced melanoma. Moreover, we review previous studies of acral, mucosal and uveal melanoma, and we discuss the recent findings regarding durable response after the cessation of anti-PD-1 therapy, and treatment options for recurrence after adjuvant therapy.
Melanogenesis is the biological and biochemical process of melanin and melanosome biosynthesis. Melanin is formed by enzymic reactions of tyrosinase family proteins that convert tyrosine to form ...brown-black eumelanin and yellow-red pheomelanin within melanosomal compartments in melanocytes, following the cascades of events interacting with a series of autocrine and paracrine signals. Fully melanized melanosomes are delivered to keratinocytes of the skin and hair. The symbiotic relation of a melanocyte and an associated pool of keratinocytes is called epidermal melanin unit (EMU). Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) plays a vital role in melanocyte development and differentiation. MITF regulates expression of numerous pigmentation genes for promoting melanocyte differentiation, as well as fundamental genes for maintaining cell homeostasis. Diseases involving alterations of EMU show various forms of pigmentation phenotypes. This review introduces four major topics of melanogenesis cascade that include (1) melanocyte development and differentiation, (2) melanogenesis and intracellular trafficking for melanosome biosynthesis, (3) melanin pigmentation and pigment-type switching, and (4) development of a novel therapeutic approach for malignant melanoma by elucidation of melanogenesis cascade.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We reported an 81-year-old woman with metastatic melanoma, in whom myasthenia gravis and rhabdomyolysis developed after nivolumab monotherapy. The first symptom of myasthenia gravis was dyspnea. ...Ultrasonography detected hypokinesis of the bilateral diaphragm suggesting myasthenia gravis, although there was no abnormal finding of the lungs in computed tomography images. Acetylcholine receptor binding antibodies were low-titer positive in the preserved serum before administration of nivolumab, strongly suggesting that the myasthenia gravis was a nivolumab-related immune adverse event. Despite the remarkable clinical benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with advanced melanoma, it is important to recognize unexpected immune-related adverse events.
Promising antitumor activities of nivolumab, a fully humanized IgG4 inhibitor antibody against the programmed death‐1 protein, were suggested in previous phase 1 studies. The present phase 2, ...single‐arm study (JAPIC‐CTI #111681) evaluated the antitumor activities of nivolumab and explored its predictive correlates in advanced melanoma patients at 11 sites in Japan. Intravenous nivolumab 2 mg/kg was given repeatedly at 3‐week intervals to 35 of 37 patients enrolled from December 2011 to May 2012 until they experienced unacceptable toxicity, disease progression, or complete response. Primary endpoint was objective response rate. Serum levels of immune modulators were assessed at multiple time points. As of 21 October 2014, median response duration, median progression‐free survival, and median overall survival were 463 days, 169 days, and 18.0 months, respectively. The overall response rate and 1‐ and 2‐year survival rates were 28.6%, 54.3%, and 42.9%, respectively. Thirteen patients remained alive at the end of the observation period and no deaths were drug related. Grade 3–4 drug‐related adverse events were observed in 31.4% of patients. Pretreatment serum interferon‐γ, and interleukin‐6 and ‐10 levels were significantly higher in the patients with objective tumor responses than in those with tumor progression. In conclusion, giving repeated i.v. nivolumab had potent and durable antitumor effects and a manageable safety profile in advanced melanoma patients, strongly suggesting the usefulness of nivolumab for advanced melanoma and the usefulness of pretreatment serum cytokine profiles as correlates for predicting treatment efficacy.
Repeated intravenous administration of nivolumab had potent and durable anti‐tumor effects and a manageable safety profile in advanced melanoma patients in Japan. Pre‐treatment serum cytokine profiles were suggested as correlates for predicting treatment efficacy.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Acral skin is the most prevalent site of malignant melanoma in non‐Caucasian populations. On acral skin, other various kinds of pigmented lesions are also detected. Particularly, melanocytic nevus is ...commonly seen on acral volar skin; approximately 10% of Japanese have a nevus on their soles. Prognosis of acral melanoma is still generally poor because of delayed detection in the advanced stages. To improve the prognosis, early detection is essential. Early acral melanoma is seen as a brownish macule, which is clinically quite similar to acral nevus. Therefore, clinicians often face a dilemma when they see a pigmented macule on acral volar skin. Introduction of dermoscopy was a great epoch in this field. Pigmentation pattern on dermoscopy is completely opposite between early acral melanoma and acral nevus; pigmentation on the ridges of the surface skin markings is detected in early acral melanoma, whereas pigmentation along the furrows of the skin markings is seen in acral nevus. We termed these dermoscopic patterns the parallel ridge pattern and the parallel furrow pattern, respectively. These features are highly helpful in the differentiation between the two biologically distinct entities. The sensitivity and specificity of the parallel ridge pattern in diagnosing early acral melanoma is 86% and 99%, respectively. However, we must be aware that dermoscopic features in acral nevus sometimes mimic the parallel ridge pattern and that other conditions also could show dermoscopic features similar to the parallel ridge pattern. In this review article, we summarize key points of the dermoscopic diagnosis of early acral melanoma and then describe the three‐step algorithm for the management of acral melanocytic lesions, which surely aids us in effectively detecting early acral melanoma and in reducing unnecessary resection of benign nevus.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Extramammary Paget’s disease (EPD) is a cutaneous adenocarcinoma. It is usually curable by wide local excision. However, the prognosis for EPD patients with metastases is extremely poor ...because effective chemotherapy for advanced EPD has not been established.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of combination chemotherapy consisting of infusions of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, 600 mg/m
2
/body, 5 days/week) and cisplatin (5–10 mg/body, 5–7 days/week) administered intravenously for 8–24 h (low-dose FP).
Results
The patients were 15 males and 7 females and the ages ranged from 54 to 91 years old (median 71). The toxicities of low-dose FP were as follows: hematopoietic dysfunction (
n
= 4), gastrointestinal dysfunction (4), nephropathy (1), and phlebitis (1). Almost all toxicities were grade 1 or 2 except for 2 cases with grade 3 leukopenia or pancytopenia. Seventeen patients were treated with low-dose FP only, and the clinical results included 10 partial responses (PR), 4 stable disease (SD), and 3 progressive disease (PD). The overall survival ranges (medians) were 5–51 months (12) in all 22 patients, 6–51 months (13) in the 13 patients showing complete response or PR, and 5–12 months (11) in the 6 SD patients. The reported palliative effects of low-dose FP include control of pain and improvement of lymphedema.
Conclusion
Although the number of cases is limited and there is a bias because cases without clinical effects are less likely to be reported, this regimen might be considered a relatively effective option for advanced EPD.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Dear Editor, Angioedema without wheals is caused by C1 inhibitor deficiency, drugs and various diseases but is rarely induced by a specific physical stimulus. Here, we report two cases of angioedema ...without wheals, clearly related to exogenous stimuli including bathing and exercising. Additionally, we examine fluctuations in plasma histamine levels and complement parameters before and after a challenge test. Case 1: An 18-year-old woman presented with a two-year history of recurrent episodes of eyelid swelling without wheals. The swelling occurred when bathing or exercising for approximately 30 min, persisting for two days before improving spontaneously. There were no subjective symptoms of hypohidrosis or other symptom-related factors such as drugs, foods, the timing of meals, season or her menstrual cycle but the high air temperature was a precipitating factor. She had atopic dermatitis (AD) as a child, but no history of urticaria or family history of angioedema.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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