Serum CEACAM1 Elevation Correlates with Melanoma Progression and Failure to Respond to Adoptive Cell Transfer Immunotherapy

Malignant melanoma is a devastating disease whose incidences are continuously rising. The recently approved antimelanoma therapies carry new hope for metastatic patients for the first time in decades. However, the clinical management of melanoma is severely hampered by the absence of effective screening tools. The expression of the CEACAM1 adhesion molecule on melanoma cells is a strong predictor of poor prognosis. Interestingly, a melanoma-secreted form of CEACAM1 (sCEACAM1) has recently emerged as a potential tumor biomarker. Here we add novel evidences supporting the prognostic role of serum CEACAM1 by using a mice xenograft model of human melanoma and showing a correlation between serum CEACAM1 and tumor burden. Moreover, we demonstrate that serum CEACAM1 is elevated over time in progressive melanoma patients who fail to respond to immunotherapy as opposed to responders and stable disease patients, thus proving a correlation between sCEACAM1, response to treatment, and clinical deterioration.