Unresectable Mucosal Melanoma

This phase II trial studies how well low dose, reduced frequency nivolumab works in treating patients with cancer that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Nivolumab is a type of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). ICIs have revolutionized the treatment of numerous cancers with remarkable improvement in participant outcomes. However, accessibility of ICIs is extremely poor on a global scale, mainly due to high costs. Previous research has suggested that these drugs can be given at lower doses and reduced frequency than their approved dosing regimens, with similar results. Giving nivolumab at a lower dose and less often may help reduce the cost of therapy, improve immunotherapy accessibility, and therefore improve survival outcomes globally.

This phase I trial studies the safety of personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine in treating patients with stage IIIC-IV melanoma, hormone receptor positive HER2 negative breast cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic) or does not respond to treatment (refractory) or stage III-IV non-small cell lung cancer. Personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine is a product that combines multiple patient specific neo-antigens. Given personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine together with Th1 polarizing adjuvant poly ICLC may induce a polyclonal, poly-epitope, cytolytic T cell immunity against the patient's tumor.

This phase II trial tests the safety and effectiveness of giving ipilimumab and nivolumab in the morning compared to other times of day in treating patients with melanoma that is stage IV or that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as ipilimumab and nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. While some patients have impressive outcomes with both of these drugs, over 40% of patients do not experience any clinical benefit. Studies have shown that the time of day that vaccines and other therapies are given have had an impact on response and survival. It is not known, however, whether time of day has an impact on response to immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as ipilimumab and nivolumab. Giving ipilimumab and nivolumab earlier in the day compared to later in the day may improve response to treatment and survival in patients with stage IV or unresectable melanoma.