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Malignant melanoma represents the most fatal skin cancer due to its aggressive behavior and high metastatic potential. The introduction of BRAF/MEK inhibitors and immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the clinic has dramatically improved patient survival over the last decade. However, many patients either display primary (i.e., innate) or develop secondary (i.e., acquired) resistance to systemic treatments. Therapeutic resistance relies on the rewiring of multiple processes, including cancer metabolism, epigenetics, gene expression, and interactions with the tumor microenvironment that are only partially understood. Therefore, reliable biomarkers of resistance or response, capable of facilitating the choice of the best treatment option for each patient, are currently missing. Recently, activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) metabolism and, in particular, of its rate-limiting enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) have been identified as key drivers of targeted therapy resistance and melanoma progression. Another major player in this context is the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, which plays key roles in the regulation of melanoma cell anabolic functions and energy metabolism at the switch between sensitivity and resistance to targeted therapy. In this review, we summarize known resistance mechanisms to ICIs and targeted therapy, focusing on metabolic adaptation as one main mechanism of drug resistance. In particular, we highlight the roles of NAD/NAMPT and mTOR signaling axes in this context and overview data in support of their inhibition as a promising strategy to overcome treatment resistance., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma has substantially improved over the last years with the advent of novel treatment strategies, mainly immune checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF and MEK inhibitors. Given the survival benefit provided in the metastatic setting and the evidence from prospective clinical trials in the early stages, these drugs have been introduced as adjuvant therapies for high-risk resected stage III disease. Several studies have also investigated immune checkpoint inhibitors, as well as BRAF and MEK inhibitors, for neoadjuvant treatment of high-risk stage III melanoma, with preliminary evidence suggesting this could be a very promising approach in this setting. However, even with new strategies, the risk of disease recurrence varies widely among stage III patients, and no available biomarkers for predicting disease recurrence have been established to date. Improved risk stratification is particularly relevant in this setting to avoid unnecessary treatment for patients who have minimum risk of disease recurrence and to reduce toxicities and costs. Research for predictive and prognostic biomarkers in this setting is ongoing to potentially shed light on the complex interplay between the tumor and the host immune system, and to further personalize treatment. This review provides an insight into available data on circulating and tissue biomarkers, including the tumor microenvironment and associated gene signatures, and their predictive and prognostic role during neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment for cutaneous high-risk melanoma patients.

Cutaneous melanoma is rare in children and, like other very rare pediatric tumors, it suffers from a shortage of knowledge and clinical expertise. The clinical management of pediatric melanoma is often challenging. Its clinical and pathological diagnosis may be difficult, and there is no standard treatment. In the absence of specific treatment guidelines, young patients are generally treated following the same principle as for adults, but concern remains about their access to clinical trials and new drugs, which have been shown to dramatically change the natural history of advanced melanoma. This paper presents the internationally recognized recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents with cutaneous melanoma, established by the European Cooperative Study Group for Pediatric Rare Tumors (EXPeRT) within the EU-funded project called PARTNER (Paediatric Rare Tumours Network - European Registry). Main recommendations for melanoma are to discuss pediatric patients in multidisciplinary teams that include both pediatric oncologists and specialists in adult melanoma; to enroll patients in prospective trials, if available; to collect data in national-international databases; and to develop an effective international collaboration between pediatric and adult melanoma groups in order to facilitate the transfer of potentially effective new agents from the adult to the pediatric setting., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Competing Interests: AI reports personal fees and honoraria for lectures from Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck Sharp & Dohme and advisory board for Novartis. FG reports honoraria for lectures and advisory board for Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Pierre Fabre, and Boehringer Ingelheim; honoraria for lectures from Amgen, AstraZeneca, and Roche; and research funding, honoraria for lectures, and advisory board from Bristol Myers Squibb.

Introduction: Approximately 40-50% of patients with cutaneous melanoma harbor point mutations in BRAF . BRAF and MEK inhibitors in combination are now a standard therapy for advanced BRAF V600 -mutated melanoma. Nevertheless, survival rates with the combination are limited, highlighting the need for further therapeutic improvement and strategies to overcome primary and acquired resistance., Areas Covered: Encorafenib, a highly selective BRAF inhibitor, was developed in combination with binimetinib, a potent, selective allosteric MEK1/2 inhibitor, to improve efficacy and tolerability over other approved combo-targeted therapies. This novel combination shows peculiar pharmacodynamic properties which translate in a higher on-target potency and paradox index. Consistent survival improvements for encorafenib and binimetinib in BRAF V600 -mutated melanoma have been confirmed in clinical trials, with over 4 years of median follow up., Expert Opinion: the favorable survival results and the attractive toxicity profile suggest that encorafenib and binimetinib combination is an intriguing standard option when targeted therapies are considered as first line treatment in BRAF mutated melanoma patients. In the near future, results from ongoing clinical trials will provide information on the use of this novel combination in specific situation, including as adjuvant treatment or as a combination strategy.

Surgical excision is the treatment of choice for early stage melanoma, and this strategy is initially curative for the vast majority of patients. However, only approximately 40-60% of high-risk patients who undergo surgery alone will be disease-free at 5 years. These patients will ultimately experience loco-regional relapse or relapse at distant sites. The main aim of adjuvant therapies is to reduce the recurrence rate of radically operated patients at high risk and to potentially improve survival. Recent practice changing results with immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies have been published in stage III/IV melanoma patients, after surgical complete resection, and have dramatically improved the landscape of adjuvant therapy. Interferon-α, ipilimumab, and more recently anti-programmed cell death protein-1 antibodies and BRAF inhibitors plus MEK inhibitors have been approved in the adjuvant setting by the US Food and Drug Administration; similarly, the same drugs are approved by the European Medicines Agency with the exception of ipilimumab. A completely new scenario is emerging in the neoadjuvant setting as well: in locally advanced or metastatic disease, patients may partially respond to neoadjuvant therapy and become virtually resectable with systemic control of disease. This review summarizes the current state of the field and describes new strategies tracing the history of adjuvant therapy in melanoma, with a view on future projects.

Objective: Prognosis of patients with metastatic melanoma has dramatically improved over recent years because of the advent of antibodies targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD1). However, the response rate is ~40% and baseline biomarkers for the outcome are yet to be identified. Here, we aimed to determine whether artificial intelligence might be useful in weighting the importance of baseline variables in predicting response to anti-PD1., Methods: This is a retrospective study evaluating 173 patients receiving anti-PD1 for melanoma. Using an artificial neuronal network analysis, the importance of different variables was estimated and used in predicting response rate and overall survival., Results: After a mean follow-up of 12.8 (±11.9) months, disease control rate was 51%. Using artificial neuronal network, we observed that 3 factors predicted response to anti-PD1: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (importance: 0.195), presence of ≥3 metastatic sites (importance: 0.156), and baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) > upper limit of normal (importance: 0.154). Looking at connections between different covariates and overall survival, the most important variables influencing survival were: presence of ≥3 metastatic sites (importance: 0.202), age (importance: 0.189), NLR (importance: 0.164), site of primary melanoma (cutaneous vs. noncutaneous) (importance: 0.112), and LDH > upper limit of normal (importance: 0.108)., Conclusions: NLR, presence of ≥3 metastatic sites, LDH levels, age, and site of primary melanoma are important baseline factors influencing response and survival. Further studies are warranted to estimate a model to drive the choice to administered anti-PD1 treatments in patients with melanoma.

Pembrolizumab is an anti-programmed cell death-1 monoclonal antibody, currently representing the first-line treatment for advanced melanoma. Apart from registration trials, there is a paucity of data on its effectiveness and safety in a real-world setting. We retrospectively analyzed patients with metastatic melanoma treated at our institution in the context of an Expanded Access Program. Survival outcomes were assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazard models. Overall, 42 melanoma patients were treated. BRAF status was wild type in 30 (71%) patients and mutated in 12 (29%). Twelve (29%) patients received pembrolizumab as the II line treatment, the other 30 (71%) as at least III line treatment. One (2%) patient experienced complete response, six (14%) partial response, and seven (17%) stable disease; 39 (93%) patients had disease progression. Median progression-free survival and overall survival were 2.4 (range: 0.2-46.5) and 5.5 months (range: 0.2-47.1), respectively. Results of the multivariate analysis showed that performance status [hazard ratio (HR): 7.10; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.73-18.4; P<0.001] and the number of previous therapeutic lines (HR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.08-3.13; P=0.025) influenced progression-free survival. Similarly, performance status (HR: 6.14; 95% CI: 2.44-15.4; P<0.001) and the number of previous lines (HR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.17-3.56; P=0.012) influenced overall survival. Fourteen (33%) patients reported immune-related adverse events. Three (7%) patients discontinued treatment due to immune-related adverse events onset. At present eight (19%) patients are still alive and one patient is still on treatment. Despite the limitations related to the size and characteristics of this report, our experience confirms the use of pembrolizumab for advanced melanoma in a real-life setting.

Approximately 50% of cutaneous melanomas harbor activating mutations of the BRAF-oncogene, making BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) the standard treatment for this disease. However, disease responses are limited in duration mainly due to acquired resistance. Dual MAPK pathway inhibition with addition of a MEK inhibitor (MEKi) to a BRAFi improved the efficacy and tolerability compared with BRAFi alone. Cobimetinib (Cotellic ® ) is an orally bioavailable, potent and selective MEKi, which significantly improved response rates when combined with BRAFi vemurafenib (median overall survival: 22.3 months). The toxicity profile of cobimetinib is manageable and treatment discontinuation due to adverse events is uncommon. Present efforts are addressed to overcome resistance and improve long-term outcomes: based on the evidence of the immunomodulatory properties of BRAFi and MEKi, current clinical trials of combined targeted and immunotherapy are investigating the role of cobimetinib in the context of combination or as sequential treatments.

Cutaneous melanoma is rare in children, but has greater incidence in adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Diagnosis may be challenging due to its rarity in these age groups. Few studies have specifically addressed the topic of AYA melanoma. Though young-age melanoma may have particular biological characteristics, available data suggest that its clinical history is similar to that of adults. However, advances in treatment of adult melanoma have not been reflected in the treatment of AYAs. There is no standard treatment, and access to clinical trials is difficult for AYAs. Further efforts are needed to overcome these issues by improving cooperation with experts on adult melanoma., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)