The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) published the first Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) on immunotherapy for the treatment of Cutaneous Melanoma in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology in 2013.
On May 30, 2018, SITC published an update in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC), the society's open access, peer-reviewed online journal.
Since the 2018 publication, the therapeutic landscape has continued to evolve, with FDA approvals for pembrolizumab in the adjuvant setting as well as atezolizumab in combination with BRAF/MEK inhibition for advanced disease. To assist clinicians in incorporating these and other advances into practice, SITC is currently developing a new CPG with topics including selection of appropriate immunotherapeutic regimens, recognition and management of adverse events, and patient quality of life considerations.
The SITC Cancer Immunotherapy Guidelines program is a collection of CPGs developed by multi-disciplinary panels of experts who draw from their own practical experience as well as evidence in the published literature and clinical trial data to develop evidence- and consensus-based recommendations on when and how to use immunotherapy to help improve outcomes for patients with cancer. SITC uses as a model the Institute of Medicine's 2011 "Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines" to ensure a fair, transparent and balanced process for creating the CPGs. Each CPG expert panel is comprised of a balanced group including academic physicians and researchers, nurses, patients, and patient advocates. The guidelines are reviewed on an ongoing basis to account for newly available clinical trial data and FDA approvals. Each expert panel addresses knowledge gaps in general understanding of the optimal clinical use of immunotherapy to offer practical, actionable recommendations to help cancer care providers develop immunotherapy treatment plans for their patients.