Key Statistics

Global incidence: An estimated 330,000 new cases and almost 60,000 deaths worldwide in 2022.

U.S. incidence: In 2025, about 104,960 new melanomas will be diagnosed and 8,430 deaths are expected.

Immunology and Melanoma

Studying melanoma skin cancer has contributed to groundbreaking discoveries in cancer immunotherapy. Melanoma was one of the first solid tumors to respond significantly to immunotherapy and remains a leading example of how harnessing the immune system can improve cancer outcomes.

The discovery of the immune system molecules that tumors like melanoma exploit to evade detection, led to the development of immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs were among the first therapies to produce durable responses in advanced melanoma, turning a once terminal disease into one where long‑term survival is possible for many patients.

Research into how the immune system works also led to the development of tumor‑infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, which has shown success for treating melanoma patients. In 2024, the first ever TIL therapy for cancer was approved for patients with advanced melanoma.

Melanoma has also led the way in oncolytic virus therapy. In 2015, talimogene laherparepvec (T‑VEC) became the first oncolytic immunotherapy approved in the U.S., working by infecting and killing melanoma cells.

Together, these achievements highlight how studying the immune system and its impact on cancers such as melanoma’s has helped drive forward the development of immunotherapies. From early discoveries in the lab to the advent of checkpoint inhibitors, TIL therapy, and oncolytic viruses, melanoma and immunology research has been at the forefront of using the immune system to fight cancer – shaping treatment strategies that are now applied across many tumor types.

What’s next for melanoma?

The future of melanoma treatment is centered on making immunotherapy more effective, personalized, and accessible. Scientists are:

• Refining TIL and CAR T-cell therapies to boost immune responses in more patients.
• Developing combination approaches, such as pairing checkpoint inhibitors with vaccines or oncolytic viruses, to overcome resistance.
• Exploring biomarkers to predict which patients will benefit most from each therapy.
• Studying the tumor microenvironment to better understand how melanoma escapes immune detection.

With continued advances in immunology and personalized medicine, researchers aim to develop kinder, more effective treatments that will save more lives.