Video
Dr. Sosman on the Mechanism of Action of Ipilimumab
Author(s):
Jeffrey A. Sosman, MD, professor of medicine, Director, Melanoma and Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, describes the mechanism of action of ipilimumab in patients with melanoma.
Jeffrey A. Sosman, MD, professor of medicine, Director, Melanoma and Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, describes the mechanism of action of ipilimumab in patients with melanoma.
Sosman says ipilimumab works by binding to the “brakes” of a T cell, which prohibits the T cell from turning off its immune response. Recent data also suggests that ipilumamab may play a role in eliminating one of the subsets of cells that are immune suppressive, Sosman says, suggesting that ipilumamab may have a more complicated role in melanoma treatment than researchers previously thought.
The unregulated activation of the T cells is what causes both the response and some of the toxicity, Sosman says.
