The Impact of Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Antigen-4 Genetic Polymorphisms on the Effectiveness of Ipilimumab and Patients’ Outcome in Melanoma

Abstract

Precision medicine is shaping the way medicine is being practiced, pharmacogenomics is the centerpiece of precision medicine. As in several fields, researchers are investigating the role of pharmacogenomic tests in the treatment of melanoma. One of these efforts is the ongoing preclinical and clinical trials investigating the impact of the genetic polymorphism of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 on drugs used in melanoma treatment. This paper reviews ipilimumab as a promising treatment for melanoma and how pharmacogenomic tests can substantially impact utilizing this drug in the treatment plan, whether as a solo treatment or in conjugation with other therapies. In this review, various databases and electronic libraries were utilized to search for and review different journal articles and papers about pharmacogenomic tests for ipilimumab. Although some results showed a minimal effect, most of the results revealed that pharmacogenomic tests for ipilimumab could play a crucial role in patients’ outcomes. Further clinical trials are, however, needed on a larger scale to adopt this therapy in practice.