Reframing adjuvant immunotherapy in melanoma: all of it starts with priming

Journal article

Checkpoint inhibitors best perform in neoadjuvant settings for a number of solid malignancies including cutaneous melanoma as compared with adjuvant schemes. A key difference between both treatment settings is the availability of tumor antigens to continuously prime antitumor T lymphocytes. Mounting evidence indicates that priming is a function chiefly performed by a subset of dendritic cells that cross-present tumor antigens rather than by malignant cells themselves. Acting in favor of these mechanisms to foster tumor-antigen priming is proposed to enhance the efficacy of adjuvant schemes.

Authors: Ascierto, PA; Melero, I

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Journal: Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 12
• Pages: e013766
• Publication date: 2025-12-09
• Acceptance date: 2025-11-15
• DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2025-013766
• EISSN: 2051-1426
• ISSN: 2051-1426
• Pmid: 41365535
• Language: English
• Keywords: Adjuvant; Skin Neoplasms; Immunotherapy; Minimal Residual Disease - Mrd; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Neoadjuvant; Humans; Skin Cancer; Melanoma