DR-344 The role of T-cell associated chemokines in shaping the tumor immune interphase and for the initiation of effective anti-tumor immune responses in advanced skin cancers in the course of tumor progression

T cell based immunotherapies have significantly advanced the treatment of advanced skin cancers and malignant melanoma in particular. However, initial anti-tumor responses to immune-checkpoint inhibitors are limited to 40-60% of melanoma patients due to the presence of primary resistance mechanisms. By contrast, secondary or acquired resistance mechanisms are proposed to be responsible for the failure of checkpoint inhibitor therapy despite initial response to this kind of immunotherapy. While factors predicting response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy are just starting to emerge and may in the long-term facilitate and improve patient selection for immunotherapy, the factors mediating acquired resistance are far less understood. This project aims to delineate (a) factors that might better predict responses to first-line checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with advanced skin cancers and (b) decipher genomic and molecular markers involved in mechanisms of secondary (acquired) resistance to checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Maximilian Haist, Universitätsmedizin Mainz der Johannes-Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Deutschland