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Re: dr_lowenstein post# 34022

Wednesday, 11/25/2015 11:44:39 PM

Wednesday, November 25, 2015 11:44:39 PM

Post# of 48316
There is an accredited lecture that is being sponsored by Merck, for medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, dermatologists, oncology nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of patients with melanoma.

http://www.melanomacme.com/targeted-therapy/2015/09_september/plasmid-il12-electroporation-in-melanoma/cme-information

In the spring of 2015, Vindico Medical Education hosted a number of leading melanoma experts as part of a 2-day international symposium to discuss these important advances. The monograph, "Updates in Melanoma 2015: Entering a New Therapeutic Era", was created and represents an overview of some of the presentations, focusing on the most recent data on immunotherapy, targeted and intralesional therapies, as well as approaches of combining and sequencing immunotherapeutic and targeted agents.

This is what it says about EP IL-12:

Interleukin (IL)-12 is a proinflammatory cytokine that mediates communication between and proliferation of dendritic cells, macrophages, effector T-cells, and natural killer (NK) cells.13 Immunological effects of IL-12 include interferon gamma upregulation, dose-dependent lymphopenia, augmented NK cell cytotoxicity, enhanced T-cell proliferation, and promotion of tumor infiltration with CD8+ T-cells. However, systemic IL-12 produces unacceptable and possibly fatal toxicity. Delivery of concentrated IL-12 intratumorally is based on electroporation, which uses high-intensity electric fields to increase plasma membrane permeability transiently, facilitating transfer of agents into cells. Melanoma tumors are injected with IL-12 plasmid DNA with electroporation-induced incorporation of the DNA into the tumor cells, which then express IL-12. The resulting local proinflammatory process may elicit a successful targeted anti-tumor immune response both locally and systemically.

Overall, preliminary data from intratumoral electroporation of IL-12 demonstrate monotherapy activity in advanced cutaneous and in-transit melanoma, which was safe and well tolerated across multiple treatment cycles. Synergism with other therapies is anticipated, and combination studies are expected to open soon.