Recent Advances and Future Perspective of DC-Based Therapy in NSCLC

Abstract

Current treatment for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is suboptimal since therapy is only effective in a minority of patients and does not always induce a long-lasting response. This highlights the importance of exploring new treatment options. The clinical success of immunotherapy relies on the ability of the immune system to mount an adequate anti-tumor response. The activation of cytotoxic T cells, the effector immune cells responsible for tumor cell killing, is of paramount importance for the immunotherapy success. These cytotoxic T cells are primarily instructed by dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and are capable of orchestrating a strong anti-cancer immune response. DC function is often suppressed in NSCLC. Therefore, resurrection of DC function is an interesting approach to enhance anti-cancer immune response. Recent data from DC-based treatment studies has given rise to the impression that DC-based treatment cannot induce clinical benefit in NSCLC by itself. However, these are all early-phase studies that were mainly designed to study safety and were not powered to study clinical benefit. The fact that these studies do show that DC-based therapies were well-tolerated and could induce the desired immune responses, indicates that DC-based therapy is still a promising option. Especially combination with other treatment modalities might enhance immunological response and clinical outcome. In this review, we will identify the possibilities from current DC-based treatment trials that could open up new venues to improve future treatment.

Development and Validation of a 7-Gene Inflammatory Signature Forecasts Prognosis and Diverse Immune Landscape in Lung Adenocarcinoma

“…Meanwhile, B cell was an independent prognostic indicator for LUAD patients ( Liu X et al, 2021 ). Dendritic cell is a professional antigen-presenting immune cell and contributes to a powerful anticancer immune response ( van der Hoorn et al, 2021 ). However, the dendritic cell function is often suppressed in patients with lung cancer ( Ma et al, 2021 ).…”

Conversion therapy from unresectable stage IIIC non-small-cell lung cancer to radical surgery via anti-PD-1 immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy and anti-angiogenesis: A case report and literature review

“…MHC class I chain-related molecule A and B expression was associated with better prognosis for lung cancer patients. The cytotoxic drug cisplatin could upregulate MHC class I chain-related molecule A and B expression in NSCLC cell lines, antigen-presenting cells and dendritic cells, increase the infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and NK cells, and boost the secretion of IFN-γ and TNF-α, thus modulating the tumor immune microenvironment ( 15 – 17 ). Additionally, patients treated with cytotoxic drugs had a higher ratio of effector T cells (Teffs) to Tregs and increased IL-2 levels ( 18 , 19 ).…”

Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus in Lung Cancer Vaccines

“…Currently, ICIs are the only approved immunotherapy option for NSCLC [8]. However, the current treatment for NSCLC with ICIs is suboptimal, as the efficacy of the therapy is limited to a small subset of patients [10,12,13]. The reasons for the low response rate of NSCLC patients remain poorly understood; therefore, there is a high clinical need for exploring a new treatment modality.…”

“…The response rate of patients is even lower (<20%) in the second line or higher line therapy. This challenge indicates that the immune response has not been fully harnessed yet to provide clinical benefits for a greater number of patients [10,11].…”