Anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade improves the efficacy of a melphalan-based therapy in experimental melanoma

The induction of adaptive cellular immunity in patients with in-transit melanoma metastasis treated with hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (ILP) with melphalan has been shown to contribute to the effectiveness of the therapy. Activated CD8⁺ T cells appear to be of particular importance for the efficacy of melphalan-based ILP therapy, as observed in both patients and animal models. In this study, we explored the possible synergistic effects of combining melphalan-based therapy with the checkpoint inhibitor anti-PD-1 on tumours in a mouse melanoma model.

A murine vaccination model that utilized melphalan-exposed melanoma cells was used to mimic certain immunological features of melphalan-based ILP. The effects of the vaccine on tumour growth and PD-1 expression on CD8⁺ tumour-infiltrating T cells were analyzed. The melphalan-based vaccine was then combined with an anti-PD-1 antibody and tumour growth was assessed.

Treatment with melphalan-based therapy significantly induced the expression of PD-1 on CD8⁺ tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes. Combination therapy using melphalan-based therapy followed by treatment with PD-1 antibodies significantly reduced early-stage tumour growth relative to monotherapies and no treatment.

This study thus suggests that the addition of PD-1 blockade to melphalan-based therapies, such as ILP, may be therapeutically beneficial.