New abstract from Journal of Experimental dermatol
Post# of 148285
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31785018
Keywords: melanoma: an alternative immune checkpoint modulator.
Author information
Dr Philip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Blockade of CCR5 in melanoma: an alternative immune checkpoint modulator.
Abstract
Melanoma is a deadly tumor which in recent years has been successfully treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors as PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors and targeted therapy as BRAF and MEK inhibitors. However, immunotherapy poses deleterious side effects and pursuit of new therapeutic targets is warranted. As knowledge of tumor immunology advances, such targets are being recognized. C-motif chemokine receptor-5 (CCR5) is a receptor found on immune cells whose effects impact the immune response both to induce inflammation and to activate suppressor cells causing an anti-inflammatory effect. CCR5 is well known as a target for HIV therapy where its blockade is efficient and safe, it is also known that its mutation CCR5delta32, is for the most part non-pathological to its carriers. In oncology, activation of the CCR5 receptor has been observed in high stage disease and CCR5 blockade has been associated with an increased immune response. In this letter we build up the rationale to utilize CCR5 as a therapeutic target for metastatic melanoma.