Immunotherapy for sarcomas: new frontiers and unveiled opportunities

Abstract

Sarcomas are a rare malignancy of mesenchymal tissues, comprizing a plethora of unique subtypes, with more than 60 types. The sheer heterogeneity of disease phenotype makes this a particularly difficult cancer to treat. Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery have been employed for over three decades and, although effective in early disease (stages I–II), in later stages, where metastatic tumors are present, these treatments are less effective. Given the spectacular results obtained by cancer immunotherapy in a variety of solid cancers and leukemias, there is now a great interest in appliying this new realm of therapy for sarcomas. The widespread use of immunotherapy for sarcoma relies on immuno-profiling of subtypes, immunomonitoring for prognosis, preclinical studies and insight into the safety profile of these novel therapies. Herein, we discuss preclinical and clinical data highlighting how immunotherapy is being used in soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcomas.

Powerful synergistic effects of a STING agonist and an IL-2 superkine in cancer immunotherapy against MHC I-deficient and MHC I+ tumors

“…The addition of checkpoint therapy to the CDN/H9- MSA therapy regimen resulted in tumor regressions and long-term tumor free survival in approximately 44% of the treated animals. These findings represent the first example of long- term immunotherapy remissions in an autochthonous sarcoma model in mice, which is an especially substantive outcome considering that immunotherapy has given generally poor outcomes in treating human sarcomas 57 .…”

Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Care in 2021

“…There is starting to be more data available regarding the oncologic benefits of combined systemic with radiation therapy, and combined systemic with regionalized hyperthermia [ 104 ], among others, are considered safe however not yet part of formal guidelines [ 54 ]. In addition, immunotherapy research sarcoma care is making considerable advancements, with bench and clinical data as well as ongoing randomized control trials outlined in a 2020 review [ 105 ].…”

Primary Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Heart: An Emerging Chapter in Cardio-Oncology

“…Apatinib plus camrelizumab (anti-PD1 therapy, SHR-1210) promoted a 50.9% improvement in PFS in patients with osteosarcoma [98]. Combination therapies with immuno-checkpoint inhibitors and oncolytic virus seem to induce anti-tumor immune responses, depending on the sarcoma subtypes [99]. Further studies are needed to define the best therapeutic strategy with these drugs in the setting of pSTS-h.…”