Effective Cancer Immunotherapy – Are We There Yet?

Abstract

The possibility of harnessing a patient's own immune system to fight cancer has intrigued researchers and clinicians for decades. Exciting new advances in the field of immunology have increased the likelihood that this may become a reality. While the development of cancer vaccines continues to be of interest, to date only one cancer vaccine has received FDA approval. However, humoral (monoclonal antibodies) and cellular (adoptive cell transfer) immune applications show significant promise. Advances in the ability to engineer a patient's own immune system cells to redirect the activity to the tumor appear to have moved the field of cancer immunotherapy to the brink of realistic and effective cancer treatment options.

ABBREVIATIONS: ACT – adoptive cell transfer, ADCC - antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, APC – antigen presenting cell, B-ALL - B-precursor cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, bsAbs - bispecific antibodies, BiTE - bispecific T-cell engagers, CAR – chimeric antigen receptor, CART – CAR+ T cells, CLL – chronic lymphocytic leukemia, CTLA4 - cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4, CIKs – cytokine induced killer cells, DC – dendritic cells, EGFR - epidermal growth factor receptor, EpCAM - epithelial cell adhesion molecule, EBV - Epstein-Barr virus, Fcgγ - Fcγ receptor, FDA - Food and Drug Administration, GM-CSF – granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor, IL – interleukin, LAK - lymphokine activated killer cells, mAb – monoclonal antibodies, MHC – major histocompatibility complex, MRD - minimal residual disease, NK – natural killer cell, NKT – natural killer T cells, PD1 - programmed death 1, PD-L1/L2 – programmed death ligand1/2, RANKL - receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB ligand, scFv - single-chain variable region, TAA – tumor associated antigens, TCR – T cell receptor, TILs – tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, Tregs – T regulatory cells, VEGF – vascular endothelial growth factor.