Possibilities of CTLA-4 blockade in the management of melanoma – new expectations and new challenges

The prevalence of melanoma is increasing worldwide, resulting in rising numbers of advanced cases demanding complex management. In the last decade, novel treatment options have become available that can achieve complete regression in patients with metastatic melanoma. Successful basic and clinical research partly focused on the development of inhibitors targeting identified mutant proteins that play a significant role in tumour progression. Nevertheless, the effects of these targeted therapies do not benefit patients without specific mutations. However, enhancing anti-tumour immune response by immune checkpoint inhibitors may be promising independently of tumour mutation status. In this paper, we describe CTLA-4-based treatment options, moreover we also report three cases representing possibilities of their practical application.