Clinical trial · Observational
Immune Monitoring in Metastatic Melanoma
Immune Monitoring During Systemic Therapy of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The mean survival time in the advanced tumor stage in the presence of distant metastases in malignant melanoma was less than 9 months until a few years ago. Intensive research efforts have led to the development of promising new therapeutic strategies and their clinical application. These include on the one hand mutation-specific inhibitors of important for cell division serine-threonine kinase BRAF such as vemurafenib, dabrafenib and encorafenib and inhibitors of the downstream target protein, the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), such as trametinib, binimetinib and cobimetinib. The group of immunotherapeutics is a second new class of drugs, in which great hope for the treatment of metastatic melanoma is placed. Antibody-mediated blockage of surface molecules expressed on immune cells, referred to as immune checkpoints, results in activation of the immune system. As a result, an anti-tumor immune response is triggered, which has led to considerable therapeutic success in metastatic melanoma. To date, three checkpoint inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Ipilimumab is an antibody that binds cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4); Pembrolizumab and nivolumab cause immune stimulation by binding the Programmed Death Receptor (PD1). However, the impact of the therapy on the immune system as a whole is largely unknown. A comprehensive understanding of these effects is crucial to be able to further develop the therapy and to evaluate useful combination therapies with other immunomodulatory agents. Within the framework of this project changes of the immune response under a systemic therapy of the malignant melanoma are to be characterized. The material for the analysis comes from blood samples collected during routine patient check-ups. The aim of the analyzes is to precisely characterize the effects of the different therapeutics on the function of the immune system. In particular, the study will investigate whether certain therapeutic agents can weaken or activate the immune system and thus, in addition to the direct effect on the tumor cells, mediate indirect therapeutic effects via immune modulation. In the long term, the investigators want to use the knowledge gained to further improve the already existing therapeutic strategies of malignant melanoma by additional modulation of the immune system.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metastatic Melanoma | Melanoma | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
Interventions
Interventions (0)
Data not yet available
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- label
- Checkpoint Inhibitors
- description
- Patients with metastatic melanoma receiving systemic therapy with checkpoint inhibitors
- label
- Kinase Inhibitors
- description
- Patients with metastatic melanoma receiving systemic therapy with kinase inhibitors
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Change in frequency of peripheral immune cell populations assessed by immune monitoring through flow cytometry (ONE study FACS panel)
- timeFrame
- Before start of treatment, 3 and 6 weeks after start of treatment as well as through study completion, an average of 1 year
- description
- As part of the course of therapy during routine check-up, blood samples are collected and then analyzed by flow cytometry (ONE study panel). Frequency of surface antigens of PBMC are analyzed and the characterized sub-populations are monitored during the follow-up. Thereby, changes in frequency of surface antigens will be assessed compared to baseline (before start of treatment). This allows to determine the individual immunophenotype of a patient.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Presence of metastatic melanoma expecting treatment with immune or targeted therapy Exclusion Criteria: * \<18 years
References
Publications (10)
- BACKGROUNDChapman PB, Hauschild A, Robert C, Haanen JB, Ascierto P, Larkin J, Dummer R, Garbe C, Testori A, Maio M, Hogg D, Lorigan P, Lebbe C, Jouary T, Schadendorf D, Ribas A, O'Day SJ, Sosman JA, Kirkwood JM, Eggermont AM, Dreno B, Nolop K, Li J, Nelson B, Hou J, Lee RJ, Flaherty KT, McArthur GA; BRIM-3 Study Group. Improved survival with vemurafenib in melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation. N Engl J Med. 2011 Jun 30;364(26):2507-16. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1103782. Epub 2011 Jun 5. PMID 21639808
- BACKGROUNDBoard RE, Ellison G, Orr MC, Kemsley KR, McWalter G, Blockley LY, Dearden SP, Morris C, Ranson M, Cantarini MV, Dive C, Hughes A. Detection of BRAF mutations in the tumour and serum of patients enrolled in the AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) advanced melanoma phase II study. Br J Cancer. 2009 Nov 17;101(10):1724-30. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605371. Epub 2009 Oct 27. PMID 19861964
- BACKGROUNDSchilling B, Paschen A. Immunological consequences of selective BRAF inhibitors in malignant melanoma: Neutralization of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Oncoimmunology. 2013 Aug 1;2(8):e25218. doi: 10.4161/onci.25218. Epub 2013 Jun 10. PMID 24167759
- BACKGROUNDSchilling B, Sucker A, Griewank K, Zhao F, Weide B, Gorgens A, Giebel B, Schadendorf D, Paschen A. Vemurafenib reverses immunosuppression by myeloid derived suppressor cells. Int J Cancer. 2013 Oct 1;133(7):1653-63. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28168. Epub 2013 Apr 13. PMID 23526263
- BACKGROUNDSchilling B, Sondermann W, Zhao F, Griewank KG, Livingstone E, Sucker A, Zelba H, Weide B, Trefzer U, Wilhelm T, Loquai C, Berking C, Hassel J, Kahler KC, Utikal J, Al Ghazal P, Gutzmer R, Goldinger SM, Zimmer L, Paschen A, Hillen U, Schadendorf D; DeCOG. Differential influence of vemurafenib and dabrafenib on patients' lymphocytes despite similar clinical efficacy in melanoma. Ann Oncol. 2014 Mar;25(3):747-753. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdt587. Epub 2014 Feb 6. PMID 24504444
- BACKGROUNDWilmott JS, Long GV, Howle JR, Haydu LE, Sharma RN, Thompson JF, Kefford RF, Hersey P, Scolyer RA. Selective BRAF inhibitors induce marked T-cell infiltration into human metastatic melanoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2012 Mar 1;18(5):1386-94. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-11-2479. Epub 2011 Dec 12.