Targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and small molecules and peptidomimetics as emerging immunoregulatory agents for melanoma

Abstract

Primary cutaneous melanoma is the most lethal of all skin neoplasms and its incidence is increasing. Clinical management of advanced melanoma in the last decade has been revolutionised by the availability of immunotherapies and targeted therapies, used alone and in combination. This article summarizes advances in the treatment of late-stage melanoma including use of protein kinase inhibitors, antibody-based immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive immunotherapy, vaccines and more recently, small molecules and peptidomimetics as emerging immunoregulatory agents.

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Peptidomimetics; Small molecule kinase inhibitors; Targeted therapy.