Metastatic malignant melanoma is treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A number of previous studies have indicated that cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK cells) are a heterogeneous cell population that express cluster of differentiation (CD)3 and CD56, in addition to the natural killer cell NKG2D activating receptor. CIK cells possess major histocompatibility complex-unrestricted cytotoxicity towards cancer, but not towards normal targets. The present study investigated whether the addition of CIK cells resulted in an improved therapeutic response in a patient with metastatic malignant melanoma. In the current case, a patient with metastatic malignant melanoma received CIK therapy, which resulted in a relatively long survival time of 28 months. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous studies reporting such positive effects in a patient who received CIK cell immunotherapy. Based on the findings of the present study, CIK cell therapy may be an option that results in a good prognosis in certain patients with metastatic malignant melanoma.
Keywords: cytokine-induced killer cells; immunotherapy; malignant melanoma.