Real Impact of Novel Immunotherapy Drugs in Cancer. The Experience of 10 Last Years

Abstract

Intense research on immunotherapy has been conducted during recent years. As advances in the field have started changing the landscape of cancer therapy, it is necessary to assess the impact of immunotherapeutic modalities in the treatment of various cancers. Ten years ago, in 2011, ipilimumab was the first of the newest immunotherapeutic drugs against cancer to be approved by the FDA. Then several drugs followed and formed a therapeutic arsenal to fight cancer. Initial studies were performed on metastatic patients, but there are currently several studies in patients with potentially curable cancers. All these developments have created a new environment for oncology which we will present in this article. This review examines the current evidence related to the impact of immunotherapy on various cancers and discusses its potential clinical and research implications, including its effectiveness in comparison to other treatment modalities (chemotherapy, radiotherapy), its toxicity and prospective research opportunities. While constant updates and further research is critical to understand the impact of immunotherapy in cancer therapy, not only does it seem to be important to assess the current state of knowledge highlighting the success but also to determine the challenging aspects of cancer immunotherapy.

The synergistic immunotherapeutic impact of engineered CAR-T cells with PD-1 blockade in lymphomas and solid tumors: a systematic review

“…In contrast to traditional techniques, immunotherapy concentrates on using the body's immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapy helps to withstand and eliminate tumor cells by triggering the body's natural defenses (7,8). One such novel immunotherapeutic approach is adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) which majorly comprises T cell receptor (TCR) T cells, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) (9,10).…”

A real-world retrospective, observational study of first-line pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer with PD-L1 tumor proportion score < 50% (PEMBROREAL)

“…Immunotherapy has become the most impactful technology in the field of oncology over the past decade ( 15 ). It has redefined treatment guidelines for most forms of cancer, especially for drugs that are effective on the programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) signaling pathway, since nivolumab has been approved by the National Health System for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and second-line therapy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ( 16 , 17 ).…”

Safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer and brain metastasis

“…In the second‐line setting, single‐agent antiprogrammed cell death (ligand) 1 [anti‐PD‐(L)1] antibody therapy results in longer OS vs standard docetaxel 5,24,25 . Several first‐line studies have further established the role of therapy with single ICI or combined with conventional chemotherapy as the new standard of care 26‐32 . Registration studies only allowed patients with treated and stable BM and, for this reason, prospective data evaluating the efficacy and safety of ICI in patients with BM is scant.…”

“…5,24,25 Several first-line studies have further established the role of therapy with single ICI or combined with conventional chemotherapy as the new standard of care. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Registration studies only allowed patients with treated and stable BM and, for this reason, prospective data evaluating the efficacy and safety of ICI in patients with BM is scant. The adoption of ICI in NSCLC patients with active or untreated BM remains a matter of debate.…”