Dacarbazine mediates antimelanoma effects via NK cells

Melanoma is a highly chemoresistant and metastatic tumor that, in the absence of BRAF mutations, is generally treated with the alkylating agent dacarbazine (DTIC). We discovered that DTIC upregulates the expression of NKG2D ligands on tumor cells, leading to the activation of natural killer (NK) and CD8(+) T cells. These observations underscore the immunogenic properties of DTIC and provide a rationale to combine DTIC with immunotherapeutic agents.