TriangleFOR PATIENTS · SOURCE READING
Immunotherapy
Source: Skin Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Patient Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: May 1, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary. Independent clinical review is pending.
Context: Treatment Option Overview / The following types of treatment are used:
Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the patient's immune system to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or made in a laboratory are used to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against cancer.
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There are different types of immunotherapy used to treat skin cancer:
Immune checkpoint inhibitors block proteins called checkpoints that are made by some types of immune system cells, such as T cells, and some cancer cells. PD-1 is a protein on the surface of T cells that helps keep the body's immune responses in check. PD-L1 is a protein found on some types of cancer cells. When PD-1 attaches to PD-L1, it stops the T cell from killing the cancer cell. PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors keep PD-1 and PD-L1 proteins from attaching to each other. This allows the T cells to kill cancer cells.
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Immune checkpoint inhibitors block proteins called checkpoints that are made by some types of immune system cells, such as T cells, and some cancer cells. PD-1 is a protein on the surface of T cells that helps keep the body's immune responses in check. PD-L1 is a protein found on some types of cancer cells. When PD-1 attaches to PD-L1, it stops the T cell from killing the cancer cell. PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors keep PD-1 and PD-L1 proteins from attaching to each other. This allows the T cells to kill cancer cells.
Cemiplimab and pembrolizumab are types of PD-1 inhibitors used to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that is locally advanced or has spread to other parts of the body.
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Interferon (by injection) may be used to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
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Topical imiquimod therapy is an immune response modifier that may be used to treat some basal cell carcinomas and is applied to the skin as a cream.
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See Drugs Approved for Basal Cell Carcinoma for more information.
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Preserved source evidence · Independent clinical review pending · Not medical advice