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Targeted therapy and checkpoint inhibitors have been approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medical Agency (EMA) for advanced and adjuvant treatment of melanoma. The first checkpoint inhibitor to be approved by FDA and EMA for treatment of melanoma was ipilimumab, a human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) antibody, based on proven benefit in terms of overall survival and recurrence-free survival in advanced and early disease, respectively. Programmed death-1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab was approved in advanced disease in 2014 and for the adjuvant treatment of stage IIIB–IIIC/stage IV melanoma in 2017 on the basis of an improvement in recurrence-free survival versus the active comparator ipilimumab. In this chapter, we review the activity, efficacy, and toxicity of nivolumab and summarize new potential therapeutic strategies, which could potentially expand its spectrum of activity in melanoma.

Immunotherapy is one of the most recent systemic treatments to emerge for use in oncology, and is based on the blocking of inhibitory immune checkpoints to potentiate the immune response to cancer. The anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 antibody ipilimumab and anti-programmed cell death protein 1 antibodies, including nivolumab and pembrolizumab, are currently available and widely used, and other immune-inhibiting antibodies are now under intensive investigation. These antibodies have shown efficacy in a growing number of tumor types, following initial observations of their notable effects in melanoma treatment. Despite the efficacy of these antibodies, their novel mechanisms of action are also associated with a new class of side effects called immune-related adverse events (IRAEs). These side effects do not share a common pathophysiology with other anticancer treatments and, therefore, they often require specific therapies. When detected early and correctly treated, IRAEs are reversible; however, they can become severe and life-threatening if underestimated or inappropriately treated. This review aims to revisit the pathogenesis of IRAEs, with attention to gastrointestinal manifestations, since these are common and potentially dangerous complications of immunotherapy and represent a major cause of treatment discontinuation. Recommendations and guidelines for the management of IRAEs are also presented, in order to provide a clear and applicable algorithm for use by clinicians.

Most commonly described as sporadic, pulmonary adenocarcinoma with enteric differentiation (PAED) is a rare variant of invasive lung cancer recently established and recognised by the World Health Organization. This tumour is highly heterogeneous and shares several morphological features with pulmonary and colorectal adenocarcinomas. Our objective is to summarise current research on PAED, focusing on its immunohistochemical and molecular features as potential tools for differential diagnosis from colorectal cancer, as well as prognosis definition and therapeutic choice. PAED exhibits an ‘entero-like’ pathological morphology in more than half cases, expressing at least one of the typical immunohistochemical markers of enteric differentiation, namely CDX2, CK20 or MUC2. For this reason, this malignancy appears often indistinguishable from a colorectal cancer metastasis, making the differential diagnosis laborious. Although standard diagnostic criteria have not been established yet, in the past few years, a number of approaches have been addressed, aimed at defining specific immunohistochemical and molecular signatures. Based on previously published literature, we have collected and analysed molecular and immunohistochemical data on this rare neoplasm, and have described the state of the art on diagnostic criteria as well as major clinical and therapeutic implications.The analysis of data from 295 patients from 58 published articles allowed us to identify the most represented immunohistochemical and molecular markers, as well as major differences between Asian PAEDs and those diagnosed in European/North American countries. The innovative molecular approaches, exploring driver mutations or new gene alterations, could help to identify rare prognostic factors and guide future tailored therapeutic approaches to this rare neoplasm.

Background: Primary pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma (PEAC) is a rare non-small cell lung cancer subtype sharing morphologic and immunohistochemical features with colorectal adenocarcinoma. Given the frequency of lung metastases in colorectal cancer, the differential diagnosis of PEAC according to routine morphological and immunohistochemical findings may be difficult. Genome sequence by next-generation sequencing has recently introduced new perspectives to better define the diagnosis and tumor sensitivity to treatments, while the rarity of this subtype of cancer still limits the current knowledge of its molecular features and provides no information to address patients to tailored therapies. Methods: We diagnosed a rare case of subcutaneous metastasis as a first symptom of a PEAC. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of the primary tumor and subcutaneous metastases were examined by immunohistochemistry, and subsequently by targeted next-generation sequencing analysis. Results: Morphological and immunohistochemical findings suggested a rare case of metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma with enteric aspects. Next-generation sequencing analysis performed on both the primary tumor sample and the cutaneous lesion identified two pathogenic variants on CDKN2A and KRAS in both of them. However, the metastasis showed two additional pathogenic mutations located in SMAD4 and FLT3 genes. Conclusions: We describe for the first time an extensive molecular analysis on a rare case of PEAC with an unusual cutaneous metastasis. Our observation suggests that a specific pattern of mutations is harbored in this neoplasm, and that additional molecular studies may provide further information to identify prognostic and hopefully predictive genes of response to treatment.

The human animal type melanoma (ATM) is a rare subtype of melanoma characterised by the proliferation of pigmented dermal epithelioid and spindled melanocytes. However, this variant of melanoma is still lacking a precise nosography definition and classification for the difficulty to be distinguished from other more common melanocytic lesions, as well as for its peculiar biological behaviour. On the other hand, the contribution of scientific literature to this issue is fragmented and limited to the description of very few cases. Starting from the presentation of a case with abnormally aggressive clinical features, here we revisit the current knowledge on ATM from its dermatologic patterns, epidemiology, demography and histopathology to the clinical management. Peculiar accuracy has also been reserved to several histopathologic criteria, which are critical for the differential diagnosis from other melanocytic diseases in junction with molecular data deriving from recent cytogenetic and mutational characterisation of this tumour.

Background Ipilimumab (Ip) is an option in Metastatic Melanoma (MM) patients (pt) in case of disease progression after antiPD1 (AP) treatment and BRAF+MEK inhibitors (BMi) administration (for BRAF mutated melanoma). Clinical trial are evaluating potential Ip-based combinations in 2nd/3rd line setting. Many studies underline the role of some parameters (as LDH, ECOG PS, Neutrophile/Leucocyte ratio) as progostic factors for immunotherapy used in first-line. We evaluate the prognostic role of some relevant clinical or laboratoristic parameters for Ip used in late line after AP, Bmi, in order to define pt that benefit most from Ip monotherapy in this setting. Methods A retrospective multicenter study was conducted in 8 Italian Oncology Centers, evaluating MM pt treated with Ip after AP and/or BMi. Endpoints were OS and PFS, Kaplan Mayer and Cox regression were applied for survival analysis. Results Among 200 pt that received AP or Bmi, 48 were eligible for Ip administration in 2nd/3rd line. Before Ip treatment, ECOG PS was 0 in 21 pt, number of metastatic sites was less then 3 in 14 pt, LDH was within normal range in 19 pt, NLR ratio (= baseline neutrophils/total leukocytes) was less then 0.7 in 28 pt: in univariate analysis, only ECOG PS and NLR resulted significantly associated with better PFS and OS. For pt with ECOG PS 0 or 1 medianPFS was 3.2, 2.3 month respectively (p value 0.0066; HR 0.377 IC95% 0.186-0.762), median OS was 12.1, 4.0 respectively (p value 0.0016 HR 0.287 IC95% 0.132-0.622). For pt with NLR 0,7 medianPFS was 3.2, 2.0 month respectively (p value 0.002 HR 0.241 IC95% 0.0978-0.593), median OS was 7.63, 2.67 respectively (p value 0.0037 HR 0.251 IC95% 0.0986-0.0637) A score was counted for each pt considering the number of favorable basal factors present (ECOG PS 0, NLR Conclusions ECOG PS 0, NLR Legal entity responsible for the study Italian Melanoma Intergroup. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure R. Marconcini: Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Novartis; Honoraria (self), Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: La Roche; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: MSD; Honoraria (self), Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: BMS; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Incyte; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: Ipsen. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.