Volume 29, Issue 166, December 2025

Immunotherapy of Melanoma – Current State of Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Dominika Wiśniewska^1♦, Arkadiusz Jamro², Dominik Jucha¹, Michał Klimas¹, Martyna Winiarska¹, Sabina Krupa-Nurcek³

¹Student at the Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
²Medical Center ZOZ 2 in Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
³Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland

^♦Corresponding Author
Dominika Wiśniewska, Postal Address: Podwisłocze 31/163 Street, 35-309 Rzeszów, Poland

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In recent years, understanding how the immune system responds to cancer cells have greatly shaped in development of new therapies for ontological diseases, including advanced melanoma. Notably, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) like a CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab and the PD-1 inhibitors pembrolizumab and nivolumab have emerged as key therapeutic option. Numerous clinical trials have shown that their use promotes a significant improvement of overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and quality of life of patients. However, a significant limitation of immunotherapy is the occurrence of adverse events, which in many cases prevent the continuation of treatment. Methods: We reviewed the selected literature available in the PubMed database, encompassing publications from the past decade. Prospective and retrospective clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses on melanoma immunotherapy, we considered for this review. Results: After analyzing the available studies, it shown that immunotherapy in the form of ICIs significantly prolongs OS and PFS in patients with advanced melanoma. The efficacy of the therapy was observed in both anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 monotherapy and in combination regimens, although these are associated with a higher incidence of adverse events. Conclusion: The introduction of checkpoint inhibitors into everyday clinical practice has significantly improved the prognosis of patients with advanced melanoma and changed the standard of care in this group. A combination therapy of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 produces the best results, but severe adverse effects limit its routine use. Therefore, researchers intensively investigate resistance mechanisms and strategies for patient personalization.

Keywords: immunothetapy, melanoma, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)

Medical Science, 2025, 29, e222ms3721

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v29i166.e222ms3721

Published: 7 December 2025