Study of Anti-telomerase T CD4 Immunity in Melanoma

The impressive clinical responses obtained with immune checkpoint inhibitors (anti-PD-1/PDL-1, anti-CTLA-4) indicate that the presence of preexisting antitumor immune response might be required for their efficacy and highlight the critical role of antitumor T cell immunity. Recent progresses on the field of tumor immunology underline the critical role of CD4 helper 1 T lymphocyte (TH1) in the control of innate and adaptive anticancer immunity. Therefore, monitoring tumor specific TH1 response could be relevant in cancer patients. In order to monitor tumor-specific CD4 Th1 responses in most cancer patients, the investigators team have previously described novel promiscuous peptides (referred as UCP: Universal Cancer Peptides) derived from human telomerase (TERT), a prototype of shared tumor antigen. By using UCP-based immuno-assay, UCP specific Th1 immune responses will be evaluated in this study in melanoma before and after treatment.