Vitamin D in melanoma: Controversies and potential role in combination with immune check-point inhibitors.

Luigia Stefania Stucci, Stella D'Oronzo, Marco Tucci, Antonella Macerollo, Simone Ribero, Francesco Spagnolo, Elena Marra, Virginia Picasso, Laura Orgiano, Riccardo Marconcini, Francesco De Rosa, Lorenza Di Guardo, Giulia Galli, Sara Gandini, Raffaele Palmirotta, Giuseppe Palmieri, Paola Queirolo, Francesco Silvestris

Journal: Cancer treatment reviews 2018;69():21-28

PMID: 29864718

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

The role of vitamin D in melanoma is still controversial. Although several Authors described a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and poor survival in metastatic melanoma patients, clinical trials exploring the effects of vitamin D supplementation in this clinical setting were mostly inconclusive. However, recent evidence suggests that vitamin D exerts both anti-proliferative effects on tumor cells and immune-modulating activities, that have been widely explored in auto-immune disorders. On the one hand, vitamin D has been shown to inhibit T-helper17 lymphocytes, notoriously involved in the pathogenesis of immune-related adverse events (iAEs) which complicate immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. On the other hand, vitamin D up-regulates PDL-1 expression on both epithelial and immune cells, suggesting a synergic effect in combination with ICIs, for which further investigation is needed.

Address: Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari 'Aldo Moro', Italy.; Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari 'Aldo Moro', Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].; Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.; Department of Medical Sciences Section of Dermatology, University of Turin, Italy.; Department of Medical Oncology , Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy.; Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.; Department of Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana and University of Pisa, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Santa Chiara Hospital, Pisa, Italy.; Immunotherapy-Cell Therapy and Biobank Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy.; Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.; Unit of Cancer Genetics, ICB-CNR, Sassari, Italy.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.05.016