Learn how immunotherapy for advanced melanoma uses the body’s immune response through treatments like checkpoint inhibitors.
Learn more about:
- Overview
- Having immunotherapy
- Side effects of immunotherapy
- Video: What is immunotherapy?
- Podcast: Immunotherapy & Targeted Therapy
Overview
Immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors use the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Checkpoint inhibitors remove barriers that stop the immune system from finding and attacking cancer.
Checkpoint inhibitors used for advanced melanoma include relatlimab, ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab. Sometimes more than one drug is used, with different combinations working for different people.
Having immunotherapy
| How it is given | You will usually have immunotherapy as an outpatient, which means you visit a treatment centre for the day. In most cases, the immunotherapy drugs are given into a vein (intravenously). |
| How often will you have it? | You may have treatment every 2–6 weeks in a repeating cycle for up to 2 years, but this depends on how the melanoma responds to the drugs and any side effects you may have. |
| Does it work for everyone? | Immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors has worked well for some people with melanoma, but it does not help everyone. While most people treated with checkpoint inhibitors have had advanced cancer, immunotherapy is now available for some people with earlier stage melanoma. |
| Other options | Other immunotherapy treatments are being tested in clinical trials. Talk to your doctor about whether immunotherapy is an option for you. |
Possible side effects of immunotherapy
The side effects of immunotherapy drugs will vary depending on which drugs you are given and can be unpredictable.
Common side effects
Immunotherapy can cause inflammation in any of the organs in the body, leading to side effects such as:
- tiredness
- joint pain
- diarrhoea
- an itchy rash or other skin problems.
The inflammation can lead to more serious side effects in some people, and in rare cases, this can be life threatening, but these side effects will be monitored closely and managed quickly.
When side effects may occur
You may have side effects within days of starting immunotherapy, but more often they occur many weeks or months later.
It is important to discuss any side effects with your treatment team as soon as they appear so they can be managed appropriately. When side effects are treated early, they are likely to be less severe and last for a shorter time.
Delaying or stopping treatment for a side effect does not mean immunotherapy will stop working. Many patients stop treatment after only one or a few treatments and their melanoma remains controlled years later without further treatment.
Learn more about immunotherapy.
Checkpoint inhibitors can take weeks or months to start working, depending on how your immune system and the cancer respond. Sometimes their effects keep working long after treatment stops, but this varies from person to person. Other times cancer cells can become resistant to the treatment even if it works at first.
Every three weeks, I’d go to the treatment centre for an immunotherapy infusion. I had very few side effects, I was really lucky. I did get a tiny bit of a rash and I got pretty tired after each infusion, but I’d just go and have a snooze.
Ian
→ READ MORE: Targeted therapy for advanced melanoma
Video: What is immunotherapy?
Watch this short video to learn more about targeted and immunotherapy.
Podcast: Immunotherapy & Targeted Therapy
More resources
A/Prof Rachel Roberts-Thomson, Medical Oncologist, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, SA; A/Prof Robyn Saw, Surgical Oncologist, Melanoma Institute Australia, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and The University of Sydney, NSW; Alison Button-Sloan, Consumer; Dr Marcus Cheng, Radiation Oncologist Registrar, Alfred Health, VIC; Prof Anne Cust, Deputy Director, The Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney and Cancer Council NSW, Chair, National Skin Cancer Committee, Cancer Council, and faculty member, Melanoma Institute Australia; Prof David Gyorki, Surgical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Dr Rhonda Harvey, Mohs Surgeon, Dermatologist, Green Square Dermatology, The Skin Hospital, Darlinghurst and Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre, RPA, NSW; David Hoffman, Consumer; A/Prof Jeremy Hudson, Southern Cross University, James Cook University, Chair of Dermatology RACGP, Clinical Director, North Queensland Skin Cancer, QLD; Dr Damien Kee, Medical Oncologist, Austin Health and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Clinical Research Fellow, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, VIC; Angelica Miller, Melanoma Community Support Nurse, Melanoma Institute Australia, WA; Romy Pham, 13 11 20 Consultant, QLD; A/Prof Sasha Senthi, Radiation Oncologist, Alfred Health, and Clinical Research Fellow, Victorian Cancer Agency, VIC; Dr Chistoph Sinz, Dermatologist, Melanoma Institute Australia, NSW; Dr Amelia Smit, Research Fellow, Melanoma and Skin Cancer, The Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney and Cancer Council NSW; Nicole Taylor, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Westmead Hospital, NSW.
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