Opposing effects of immunotherapy in melanoma using multisubtype interferon-alpha - can tumor immune escape after immunotherapy accelerate disease progression?

With checkpoint inhibitors, patients with advanced melanoma display durable responses suggesting cure of disease. However, the immune system has dual roles in cancer; while the immune system may eradicate a tumor, a subtotal elimination may selectively destroy immunogenic cells driving the proliferation of non-immunogenic tumors. Here, we performed a retrospective analysis of results obtained in a controlled trial of patients with melanoma treated with adjuvant, multisubtype interferon-α.

Late divergence of survival curves in cancer immunotherapy trials: interpretation and implications.

Late divergence of survival curves of treated patients and controls is commonly seen in successful cancer immunotherapy trials. Although late survival curve divergence may be caused by a delayed action of therapy, it may also be related to early effects of the treatment. We suggest that late survival divergence most often reflects a specific benefit of therapy for patients who suffer from a comparatively slow progression of disease.