AUTHOR=Fujimura Taku , Sato Yota , Tanita Kayo , Lyu Chunbing , Kambayashi Yumi , Amagai Ryo , Otsuka Atsushi , Fujisawa Yasuhiro , Yoshino Koji , Matsushita Shigeto , Uchi Hiroshi , Yamamoto Yuki , Hata Hiroo , Funakoshi Takeru , Nonomura Yumi , Tanaka Ryota , Okuhira Hisako , Wada Naoko , Hashimoto Akira , Aiba Setsuya TITLE=Association of Baseline Serum Levels of CXCL5 With the Efficacy of Nivolumab in Advanced Melanoma JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine VOLUME=6 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00086 DOI=10.3389/fmed.2019.00086 ISSN=2296-858X ABSTRACT=

Anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) antibodies are in wide use for the treatment of various cancers. PD1 antibody-based immunotherapy, co-administration of nivolumab and ipilimumab, is one of the optimal immunotherapies, especially in advanced melanoma with high tumor mutation burden. Since this combined therapy leads to a high frequency of serious immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with advanced melanoma, biomarkers are needed to evaluate nivolumab efficacy to avoid serious irAEs caused by ipilimumab. This study analyzed baseline serum levels of CXCL5, CXCL10, and CCL22 in 46 cases of advanced cutaneous melanoma treated with nivolumab. Baseline serum levels of CXCL5 were significantly higher in responders than in non-responders. In contrast, there were no significant differences in baseline serum levels of CXCL10 and CCL22 between responders and non-responders. These results suggest that baseline serum levels of CXCL5 may be useful as a biomarker for identifying patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma most likely to benefit from anti-melanoma immunotherapy.