Our group pioneered neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition in melanoma with the idea that this therapy is most effective when the tumor is still present with all its variety. We found unparalleled high pathologic responses, which was associated with almost no recurrences.
Neoadjuvant therapies provide also a translational research opportunity to explore gene expression signatures associated with response and to understand molecular mechanisms of resistance. In that way we believe to develop personalized neoadjuvant immunotherapy in the future.
