Written from the studies on PubMed, searched on 12 Nov 2026. Every number below comes from a study listed under Sources. The text was written by AI from these studies; each sentence names the studies it comes from.
The claim
Immunotherapy is a major treatment for melanoma and can help some people even after other treatments stopped working.
Where research stands
We found 738 published papers on immunotherapy and melanoma. They were published between 1979 and 2027. 11 of them are studies in people. At least 149 people took part. 1 of them compared people who got it with a group that did not. 150 were studies in animals, and 41 were only in cells in the lab. 231 papers are reviews that sum up other studies. 126 new studies in people are running or will start soon, says the trial register ClinicalTrials.gov.
- 11In people1 with a comparison group
- 150In animals
- 41Only in the lab
What the studies found
Trials in people
One small test in 21 people compared two ways of timing treatment, using a blood test. [1] It mainly checked whether this was workable, not whether people lived longer. [1] In 20 people given gut bacteria transplants plus immunotherapy, 15 in 20 responded. [2] But 13 in 20 had serious side effects, and there was no comparison group. [2] A test in 5 people whose treatment had stopped working helped only 1 of 5. [3] One person died from the treatment, and the test was ended. [3]
Other studies in people
A cell treatment was given to 37 people whose melanoma no longer responded to immunotherapy. [6] The authors report no dangerous side effects that limited the dose. [6] In 24 people, gut bacteria patterns before treatment were not linked to how people did. [7] A blood marker called arginase-1 went with better responses to a vaccine and longer survival. [9]
Reviews
Reviews say many people with melanoma do not respond to these drugs, or stop responding. [10][11][12] New ways to deal with this are being studied. [10][11][12] Single case reports cannot show how well a treatment works in general. [14][15]
In animals
In mice with melanoma, several experimental treatments slowed tumour growth. [16][17][18][19][20] Results in animals do not always hold in people. [21][17]
In the lab
Lab studies link immune gene activity in melanoma samples with survival. [22] In mice, blocking a protein called p38α helped immunotherapy work better. [23]
Verdict
Small studies in people report that immunotherapy helps some, even when other treatment stopped working. [2][4][5] But only 1 comparison test was done, it was small, and many people do not respond. [1][10] So the claim is partly true. [1][10]
Partly true means: people did well, but no fair test with a comparison group has shown it yet. Or only part of the claim holds. How we rate claims
What this means for you: A study in people is not proof that it helps you. Do not stop or change your medicines because of it. Ask your doctor before you start taking it.
Sources
- Use of circulating tumour DNA to prospectively guide a switch from targeted to immune therapy in BRAF mutant advanced melanoma: the randomised phase II CAcTUS trial.2026 · Nat Commun · Randomised trial
- Fecal microbiota transplantation plus immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma: the phase 2 FMT-LUMINate trial.2026 · Nat Med · Study in people
- High dose interleukin-2 in combination with anti-programmed cell death protein 1 to overcome immune checkpoint inhibitor resistance in metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.2026 · Melanoma Res · Study in people
- Integrating intracranial hypofractionated radiotherapy with immunotherapy for melanoma brain metastases: therapeutic impact and immune modulation.2026 · Ther Adv Med Oncol · Study in people
- Plasma exchange and radiation resensitize immunotherapy-refractory melanoma: a phase I trial.2025 · Nat Commun · Study in people
- Regulatable membrane-bound IL-15 engineered TIL cell therapy for immune checkpoint inhibitor-resistant advanced melanoma: pooled analysis of phase 1 and 1/2 trials.2026 · Nat Med · Study in people
- Microbiome-derived TOPOSCORE is associated with response to immune checkpoint inhibitor re-induction after chemotherapy in primary resistant metastatic melanoma.2026 · Cancer Immunol Immunother · Study in people
- Accuracy of Index Lymph Node Pathology in Predicting Overall Response to Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Clinical Stage III Melanoma: Results From the Prospective NeoACTIVATE Arm C (NCT03554083) Substudy.2026 · Ann Surg Oncol · Study in people
- Serum Arginase-1 is a predictive biomarker for melanoma patients and a surrogate indicator of systemic myeloid cell fitness.2025 · Oncoimmunology · Study in people
- Exploring the potential role of PD-L2 in primary melanoma immunotherapy resistance: a hypothesis-driven dual-ligand framework.2026 · Front Immunol · Review
- PROTAC technology for sensitizing melanoma to immune checkpoint therapy.2026 · J Exp Clin Cancer Res · Review
- Reprogramming the Melanoma Tumor Microenvironment: From Cellular Crosstalk to Cellular Immunotherapy.2026 · Cancers (Basel) · Review
- The gut microbiome in immunotherapy - lessons learned from melanoma and implications for gastrointestinal tumors.2026 · Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol · Review
- Bladder metastasis from cutaneous melanoma during adjuvant immunotherapy: A case report and literature review.2026 · Mol Clin Oncol · Review
- Integrating Surgery and Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Childhood Orbital Melanoma: A Case Report and the Literature Review.2026 · Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg · Review
- A sonogenetic antigen-presenting nanoplatform enables spatiotemporal control of calcium signalling in T cells for enhanced cancer immunotherapy.2027 · Biomaterials · In animals
- Macrophage polarization-inducible cholesterol lipid-assisted nanoparticles prime systemic antitumor immunity.2027 · Biomaterials · In animals
- Engineered T cell-agonist chimera for logic-gated STING activation and augmented cancer immunotherapy.2026 · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · In animals
- Sequential Barrier Navigation by Yeast β-Glucan-Engineered Liposomal Nanovaccines Potentiates Oral Melanoma Immunotherapy.2026 · Int J Nanomedicine · In animals
- IL7R mRNA therapy enhances antitumor T cell immunity and suppresses tumor growth in preclinical tumor models.2026 · J Immunother Cancer · In animals
- Lymphangiogenesis driven by VEGF-C reshapes tumor immune landscape and enables tumor eradication by viral immunotherapy in mouse melanoma models.2026 · Cell Rep · In animals
- Immune checkpoint gene-based tumor-immune phenotypes stratify prognosis and immunotherapy-associated remodeling in cutaneous melanoma: a multi-cohort transcriptomic and single-cell re-analysis.2026 · Front Genet · In the lab
- p38α orchestrates BRAFV600E-melanoma progression and immunotherapy response via tumor fitness and immune microenvironment modulation.2026 · Nat Commun · In the lab
- An Immunogenic Cell Death-Enhanced Self-Assembled Nanoparticle-Composite Hydrogel for Postoperative Local Immunotherapy of Melanoma.2026 · OMICS · In the lab
