Melanoma is characterised by its ability to metastasise at early stages of tumour development.,Current clinico‐pathologic staging based on the American Joint Committee on Cancer criteria is used to guide surveillance and management in early‐stage disease, but its ability to predict clinical outcome has limitations.,Herein we review the genomics of melanoma subtypes including cutaneous, acral, uveal and mucosal, with a focus on the prognostic and predictive significance of key molecular aberrations.,© 2018 The Authors.,The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells have demonstrated promising clinical efficacy in patients with B cell lymphoma.,However, the application of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of other solid tumors has been limited.,We incorporated 4-1BB into the anti-GD2 CAR-T cells to test their cytotoxicity in melanoma in vitro and in vivo.,Moreover, we reported the expression of ganglioside GD2 in non-Caucasian melanoma populations for the first time, thus providing a basis for future clinical research.,This study included tumor samples from 288 melanoma patients at the Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute.,Clinical data were collected.,Immunohistochemical assays using antibodies against ganglioside GD2 were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens.,The ability of ganglioside GD2 CAR-T cells to kill ganglioside GD2+ melanoma cells was evaluated in vitro and in a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model.,Among the 288 samples, 49.3% of cases (142/288) demonstrated positive staining with ganglioside GD2.,The median survival time in patients exhibiting ganglioside GD2 expression was significantly shorter than that in patients without ganglioside GD2 expression (31 vs.,47.1 months, P < 0.001).,In the present study, CAR was constructed using a GD2-specific scFv (14.,G2a), T cell receptor CD3ζ chain, and the CD137 (4-1BB) costimulatory motif.,In addition, the GD2.,BBζ CAR-T cells demonstrated specific lysis of ganglioside GD2-expressing melanoma cells in vitro.,In two PDX models, mice that received intravenous or local intratumor injections of GD2.,BBζ CAR-T cells experienced rapid tumor regression.,These data demonstrate that the rate of GD2 expression in Chinese patients is 49.3%.,GD2.,BBζ CAR-T cells can both efficiently lyse melanoma in a GD2-specific manner and release Th1 cytokines in an antigen-dependent manner in vitro and in vivo.,Anti-GD2/4-1BB CAR-T cells represent a clinically appealing treatment strategy for Chinese melanoma patients exhibiting GD2 expression and provide a basis for future studies of the clinical application of immunotherapy for melanoma.,The online version of this article (10.1186/s13045-017-0548-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.