Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, arising from pigment-producing cells. When caught early, it's usually curable with surgery. Advanced melanoma was once nearly untreatable, but immunotherapy drugs approved in the past decade now help many people live years longer, and some appear to be cured.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing combinations of checkpoint inhibitors, drugs targeting specific mutations like BRAF, cellular therapies including tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and vaccines tailored to each person's tumor. Research is also focused on preventing recurrence after surgery, treating brain metastases, and understanding why some tumors stop responding to immunotherapy.
Personalized cancer vaccines
Vaccines designed from a person's own tumor mutations are being tested alongside immunotherapy. Early results show they may help the immune system recognize and destroy remaining cancer cells after surgery.
TIL therapy
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy grows a person's own immune cells from their tumor, then infuses billions back. Lifileucel was FDA-approved in 2024 for advanced melanoma after immunotherapy stops working.
Earlier immunotherapy
Trials are testing whether giving immunotherapy after surgery for high-risk early melanoma can prevent the cancer from ever coming back. Some studies show it cuts recurrence rates in half.
What to know before you search
Eligibility often depends on melanoma stage, whether it has spread, prior treatments, BRAF mutation status, and performance status.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immunotherapy trials — Testing checkpoint inhibitors like nivolumab and pembrolizumab, alone or combined, to see if they shrink tumors or keep melanoma from returning after surgery.
- Targeted therapy trials — Testing drugs like dabrafenib and trametinib for melanomas with BRAF mutations, or other targeted drugs for rarer mutations.
- Cell therapy trials — Studies of TIL therapy, CAR T-cell therapy adapted for melanoma, or other approaches using engineered immune cells.
- Vaccine trials — Testing personalized vaccines made from tumor mutations or shared melanoma antigens to boost immune response.
- Combination trials — Testing immunotherapy with targeted therapy, radiation, or other treatments to see if combinations work better than single drugs.
Recently added Melanoma trials
Dietary Fiber to Induce Gut Microbiota-mediated Response to Immunotherapy in Melanoma.
Previous research has shown that a higher fiber intake may have a beneficial effect on the intestinal health and improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy, but this is not certain. The objective of this double-blinded randomized clinical trial is to analyze, whether increased dietary fiber intake by patients with metastatic melanoma will increase the relative amount of Bifidobacterium, which in turn stimulates immune cell activity and improves the response to immunotherapy.
Clinical Study on High-fiber Diet and Short-term Fasting in Melanoma Under Immunotherapy With Checkpoint Inhibition
The treatment of melanoma has improved significantly in recent years. A modern form of cancer treatment known as immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors plays a key role in this. These drugs help the immune system better recognize and fight cancer cells. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to maximize treatment effectiveness while minimizing side effects. One possible approach to influencing treatment efficacy and tolerability is diet. A high-fiber diet, as recommended by the German Nutrition Society, increases the effectiveness of immunotherapy, in part through its influence on gut bacteria (the gut microbiota). Initial studies also show that short-term fasting (i.e., eating nothing or very little for a limited period) reduces the side effects of immunotherapy in mouse models and improves the tolerability of chemotherapy in humans. This study investigates the feasability of a study on short-term fasting, in addition to a high-fiber diet in patiens with melanoma undergoing immunotherapy. 40 participants will follow a high-fiber diet based on the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society. Additionally, half of the participants will undergo periodic cycles of short-term fasting of 72h with each immunotherapy. Another 20 participants will not undergo any intervention and serve as a control group. The goal is to determine whether this study concept is feasible. Exploratory outcomes include, quality of life, fatigue, tolerability of the therapy, impact on disease progression, immune system (flow cytometry) and gut bacteria (microbiome). The results are intended to help understand whether targeted dietary measures can support the effectiveness of modern cancer treatments.
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