TY - JOUR T1 - Safe and effective administration of T-VEC in a patient with heart transplantation and recurrent locally advanced melanoma JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer JO - J Immunother Cancer DO - 10.1186/s40425-017-0250-5 VL - 5 IS - 1 SP - 45 AU - Gustavo Schvartsman AU - Kristen Perez AU - Jill E. Flynn AU - Jeffrey N. Myers AU - Hussein Tawbi Y1 - 2017/12/01 UR - http://jitc.bmj.com/content/5/1/45.abstract N2 - Background Immunotherapy plays a key role in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Patients with autoimmune conditions and/or on immunosuppressive therapy due to orthotropic transplants, however, are systematically excluded from clinical trials. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is the first oncolytic virus to be approved by the FDA for cancer therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T-VEC being administered in the setting of an organ transplant recipient.Case presentation Here we present the case of a patient with recurrent locally advanced cutaneous melanoma receiving salvage T-VEC therapy in the setting of orthotropic heart transplantation. After 5 cycles of therapy, no evidence of graft rejection has been observed to date, and the patient achieved a complete remission, and is currently off therapy.Conclusion This case advocates for further investigation on the safety and efficacy of immunotherapeutic approaches, such as T-VEC, in solid organ transplant recipients.Abbreviations:CTLA4 - Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4FDAFood and Drug AdministrationPD-1Programmed-death-1TVECTalimogene laherparepvecWLEWide local excision ER -