The cancer journal
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Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a largely chemotherapy-resistant disease that is commonly treated with molecularly targeted therapies. Evidence suggests that RCC is also an immune-responsive disease, and checkpoint inhibitors are in active development as agents for the treatment of systemic disease. ⋯ Nivolumab is the most completely characterized anti-PD-1 agent in RCC and has been shown to be efficacious as monotherapy. Currently, there are multiple ongoing clinical trials exploring the use of combination therapy with PD-1 blockade.
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Review Case Reports
Preclinical Rationale and Clinical Considerations for Radiotherapy Plus Immunotherapy: Going Beyond Local Control.
The use of radiation for cancer therapy has expanded and sparked interest in possible synergistic effects by combining it with current immunotherapies. In this review, we present a case of a patient who responded to programmed cell death 1 (PD1) blockade and radiation therapy and discuss possible mechanisms. ⋯ Clinical considerations are noted for combining radiation with immunotherapies to extend the benefit of immunotherapy to more patients. New trials are needed to appropriately investigate the best sequencing and radiation dose to prime an immune response and to identify predictive biomarkers of such responses.
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Advanced prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. In the era of cancer immunotherapy, it was the first malignancy to demonstrate improved survival with a cancer-specific vaccine, thus proving that prostate cancer is an immune-responsive disease. ⋯ The relative lack of response could be attributed to patient selection based on clinical attributes and the tumor microenvironment. Here, we review the current data on immune checkpoint therapies in prostate cancer and propose future directions.
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Checkpoint-blocking antibodies have transformed cancer therapy, and the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma has led the revolution. Herein, we review the current clinical data supporting the use of checkpoint-blocking antibodies in the treatment of melanoma and highlight outstanding clinical questions and unmet clinical needs.
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There is mounting evidence that the immune system plays an important role in the development and growth of gynecologic malignancies, and preliminary studies show activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors in ovarian, endometrial, and cervix cancer. In this review, we outline the completed trials of immune checkpoint blockade in the treatment of gynecologic malignancies. ⋯ The questions of which patients will benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors and when immune checkpoint inhibitors should be incorporated into the treatment of gynecologic malignancies continue to be largely unanswered. As preclinical and clinical data emerge regarding predictive markers for response and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, rational combination treatment strategies will help to further develop this emerging field in the treatment of gynecologic malignancies.