The safety of anti PD-1 therapeutics for the treatment of melanoma

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The introduction of immunotherapies into clinical practice has substantially improved the prognosis of metastatic melanoma patients as well as patients suffering from other cancers. The two FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitors against PD-1 (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) have been shown to significantly improve patient survival while being less toxic than previous treatment options.Areas covered: The current scientific literature on safety and adverse events (AEs) related to anti-PD-1 therapies has been investigated with special attention to case reports and to the latest results announced at the major clinical cancer and melanoma meetings, including ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology), ESMO (European Society of medical Oncology) and EADO (European Association of Dermato-Oncology) annual meetings.Expert opinion: Even though anti-PD-1 therapies are better tolerated than conventional chemo- or other immune-therapies, they still induce a plethora of AEs. Given the mechanism of acti...