Immunology and immunotherapy of melanoma.

Abstract

The successes achieved in the treatment of melanomas through immunotherapy suggest what may be possible in the treatment of other tumors. Although immunotherapy had to prove itself at first in patients with widespread tumors late in the course of the disease, melanoma patients have more recently been referred for treatment with adjunctive immunotherapy shortly after removal of their primary tumor and/or involved lymph nodes. Even patients with disseminated disease have been seen earlier than in the past, often before any chemotherapy has been administered, because chemotherapy for melanoma has been notably unsuccessful in prolonging useful survival despite increases in the rates of response.