Research summary
A phase-3 trial of ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) with or without gp100 vaccine compared to gp100 alone in 676 HLA-A*0201-positive patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma demonstrated improved overall survival with ipilimumab, marking the first systemic therapy to extend survival in metastatic melanoma and establishing checkpoint blockade as clinical therapy [1]. CheckMate 067 randomized 945 untreated melanoma patients in a 1:1:1 ratio to nivolumab alone, nivolumab plus ipilimumab, or ipilimumab alone, demonstrating superior progression-free survival and objective-response rates with combination therapy versus monotherapy [2]. Whole-exome sequencing of pembrolizumab-treated non-small-cell lung cancers showed that higher nonsynonymous mutation burden predicted improved objective response, durable clinical benefit, and progression-free survival in two independent cohorts, establishing tumor mutational burden as a genomic biomarker for PD-1 blockade [3]. A 2018 Science review of checkpoint blockade synthesized antibody-mediated release of CTLA-4 and PD-1 negative regulation across cancer types and discussed combination strategies and resistance mechanisms [4]. Three-year overall-survival data from CheckMate 067 demonstrated durable benefit of combination nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus monotherapy in advanced melanoma [5]. Ipilimumab plus dacarbazine in 502 previously untreated metastatic-melanoma patients improved overall survival compared with dacarbazine plus placebo [6]. Whole-exome sequencing of CTLA-4-blockade-treated melanoma tumors identified mutational-burden and neoantigen-load determinants of clinical benefit, complementing the PD-1-blockade NSCLC finding [7]. A phase-1 trial of nivolumab combined with ipilimumab in advanced melanoma established the safety profile and demonstrated durable tumor regression supporting the subsequent phase-3 program [8]. The body of work established checkpoint-inhibitor combination immunotherapy as standard of care in advanced melanoma and identified mutation-burden biomarkers predictive of response across solid tumors.
Recent publications
- Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic MelanomaDOI
- Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab or Monotherapy in Untreated MelanomaDOI
- Mutational landscape determines sensitivity to PD-1 blockade in non鈥搒mall cell lung cancerDOI
- Cancer immunotherapy using checkpoint blockadeDOI
- Overall Survival with Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Advanced MelanomaDOI
- Ipilimumab plus Dacarbazine for Previously Untreated Metastatic MelanomaDOI
- Genetic Basis for Clinical Response to CTLA-4 Blockade in MelanomaDOI
- Tumor mutational load predicts survival after immunotherapy across multiple cancer typesDOI
- Nivolumab plus Ipilimumab in Advanced MelanomaDOI
- Melanoma exosomes educate bone marrow progenitor cells toward a pro-metastatic phenotype through METDOI
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Email Jedd D. Wolchok 6-12 months before your application deadline. Read several recent papers and reference specific work in your message. Use our how to email a Japanese professor guide for the proven email structure.
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External profiles
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6718-2222
- OpenAlex: openalex.org
Profile compiled from public sources (Researchmap, OpenAlex, Kyoto University faculty directory). Last refreshed 2026-05. Report incorrect information.