Immunological effects of BRAF+MEK inhibition

Abstract

Recent developments in immunotherapy have prolonged overall survival in metastatic melanoma with the possibility to reach a long-term benefit. Targeted therapies based on BRAF and MEK inhibition also seem to have a long-term beneficial effect, which is more evident in patients with favorable baseline characteristics, namely normal levels of lactate dehydrogenase, without brain metastases, and low tumor burden. This long-term benefit of targeted therapies might be related to an immune-modulation: indeed BRAF and MEK inhibitors affect tumor microenvironment and immune surveillance, and it has been shown that patients with complete response to targeted treatment have a pre-existing favorable immunologic signature.