T cell infiltration on local CpG-B delivery in early-stage melanoma is predominantly related to CLEC9ACD141 cDC1 and CD14 antigen-presenting cell recruitment.

Background: We previously reported CpG-B injection at the primary tumor excision site prior to re-excision and sentinel node biopsy to result in immune activation of the sentinel lymph node (SLN), increased melanoma-specific CD8 T cell rates in peripheral blood, and prolonged recurrence-free survival. Here, we assessed recruitment and activation of antigen-presenting cell (APC) subsets in the SLN and at the injection site in relation to T cell infiltration.

Methods: Re-excision skin specimens from patients with clinical stage I-II melanoma, collected 7 days after intradermal injection of either saline (n=10) or 8 mg CpG-B (CPG7909, n=12), were examined by immunohistochemistry, quantifying immune subsets in the epidermis, papillary, and reticular dermis.

In the mix: the potential benefits of adding GM-CSF to CpG-B in the local treatment of patients with early-stage melanoma.

Whereas TLR9 agonists are recognized as powerful stimulators of antitumor immunity, GM-CSF has had mixed reviews. In previously reported randomized trials we assessed the effects of local immune modulation in early-stage melanoma with CpG-B alone or with GM-CSF. Here we discuss the added value of GM-CSF and show sex-related differences.

Mental chronometry in the pocket? Timing accuracy of web applications on touchscreen and keyboard devices.

Web applications can implement procedures for studying the speed of mental processes (mental chronometry) and can be administered via web browsers on most commodity desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. This approach to conducting mental chronometry offers various opportunities, such as increased scale, ease of data collection, and access to specific samples. However, validity and reliability may be threatened by less accurate timing than specialized software and hardware can offer.

Local Adjuvant Treatment with Low-Dose CpG-B Offers Durable Protection against Disease Recurrence in Clinical Stage I-II Melanoma: Data from Two Randomized Phase II Trials.

Although risk of recurrence after surgical removal of clinical stage I-II melanoma is considerable, there is no adjuvant therapy with proven efficacy. Here, we provide clinical evidence that a local conditioning regimen, aimed at immunologic arming of the tumor-draining lymph nodes, may provide durable protection against disease recurrence (median follow-up, 88.8 months).

Melanoma Sequentially Suppresses Different DC Subsets in the Sentinel Lymph Node, Affecting Disease Spread and Recurrence.

Melanoma exerts immune-suppressive effects to facilitate tumor progression and metastatic spread. We studied these effects on dendritic cell (DC) and T-cell subsets in 36 melanoma sentinel lymph node (SLN) from 28 stage I-III melanoma patients and determined their clinical significance. Four conventional DC subsets, plasmacytoid DCs, and CD4, CD8, and regulatory T cells (Tregs), were analyzed by flow cytometry.