NEW YORK , Aug. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An activity pattern in certain genes responsible for building proteins known as spleen tyrosine kinases can predict which melanoma patients are likely to have severe side effects from immunotherapy designed to treat the most deadly skin cancer, a new study shows. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center, the latest experiments focused on checkpoint inhibitors, drugs that have in the last decade become a mainstay of treating melanoma.
This form of skin cancer kills nearly 10,000 Americans annually. The drugs work by blocking molecules (checkpoints) that sit on the surface of immune T cells and stop them from attacking cancer cells like they would invading viruses or bacteria. While the immune system normally uses checkpoints to recognize and protect healthy cells, cancer cells are able to hijack and turn off immune cell surveillance, evading detection.
Immunotherapy drugs like nivolumab and ipilimumab are designed to block checkpoints, making cancer cells more "visible" again to T cells. However, more than a third of melanoma patients given checkpoint inhibitors develop side effects so severe that they compromise their quality of life and ability to continue therapy. Side effects most often involve some form of inflammation, a sign of an overactive immune response.
Patients can experience severe skin rashes, diarrhea, or hyperthyroidism. More severe side effects can include liver toxicity, colitis, and rh.