scholarly journals Beyond Ipilimumab: a review of immunotherapeutic approaches in clinical trials in Melanoma

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Monoclonal Antibodies ◽  
Combination Therapy ◽  
Phase I ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Novel Agents ◽  
Randomised Trials

Abstract In this first in a series of ‘Trials Watch’ articles we briefly review a highly selected set of clinical trials that are currently recruiting or about to open to recruitment in melanoma, the disease first transformed by the introduction of immune checkpoint blockade inhibitors (ICI). We place equal emphasis on phase I/II studies investigating the activity of biologically compelling novel immunotherapeutics, and on randomised trials of ICI with and without novel agents, as these latter studies optimise the standard of care use of ICI, and determine whether novel agents become part of the approved therapeutic armamentarium. We do not consider here combination therapy with other checkpoint antagonists or agonists besides combination of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with anti-CTLA4 mAbs, as these will be reviewed in a subsequent article in this series. A glossary of agents to be discussed is found at the end of this article.

scholarly journals The Current Landscape of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Metastatic Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1392
Author(s):  
Hong Yuan ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Programmed Death

In addition to surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy, immunotherapy has emerged as a standard pillar of cancer treatment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as targeting programmed death-1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) have been integrated into standard-of-care regimens for patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), who were previously limited by the lack of treatment options. Atezolizumab, durvalumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab are all currently used as part of standard-of-care treatment for different stages of lung cancer. Recent successes and failures of immune checkpoint blockade-based combination therapies have provided significant insights into implementing combination strategies in LUSC. Therefore, there is an urgent need to correctly select patients who are more likely to respond to immunotherapy and understand the mechanisms of primary or acquired resistance. In this review, we aim at summarizing the emerging clinical data on the promise and challenge of ICIs, discussing the unmet need of potential biomarkers for predicting response or resistance to immunotherapy, and providing an overview of the current immune landscape and future directions in advanced LUSC.

scholarly journals IMMU-19. TARGETING GLIOBLASTOMA IMMUNOSUPPRESSION AND TREATMENT RESISTANCE WITH IBRUTINIB IN COMBINATION WITH STEREOTACTIC RADIATION AND IMMUNE CHECKPOINT BLOCKADE

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii108-ii108
Author(s):  
Jayeeta Ghose ◽  
Baisakhi Raychaudhuri ◽  
Kevin Liu ◽  
William Jiang ◽  
Pooja Gulati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Combination Therapy ◽  
Median Survival ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Survival Benefit ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Triple Combination ◽  
Triple Combination Therapy

Abstract BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is associated with systemic and intratumoral immunosuppression. Part of this immunosuppression is mediated by myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Preclinical evidence shows that ibrutinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor FDA approved for use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and known to be CNS penetrant, can decrease MDSC generation and function. Also, focal radiation therapy (RT) synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy in mouse GBM models. Thus, we aimed to test the combination of these approaches on immune activation and survival in a preclinical immune-intact GBM mouse model. METHODS C57BL/6 mice intracranially implanted with the murine glioma cell line GL261-Luc2 were divided into 8 groups consisting of treatments with ibrutinib, RT (10 Gy SRS), or anti-PD-1 individually or in each combination (along with a no treatment control group). Immune cell subset changes (flow-cytometry) and animal survival (Kaplan-Meier) were assessed (n=10 mice per group). RESULTS Median survival of the following groups including control (28 days), ibrutinib (27 days), RT (30 days) or anti-PD-1 (32 days) showed no significant differences. However, a significant improvement in median survival was seen in mice given combinations of ibrutinib+RT (35 days), ibrutinib+anti-PD-1 (38 days), and triple therapy with ibrutinib+RT+anti-PD-1 (48 days, p < 0.05) compared to controls or single treatment groups. The reproducible survival benefit of triple combination therapy was abrogated in the setting of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell depletion. Contralateral intracranial tumor re-challenge in long-term surviving mice suggested generation of tumor-specific immune memory responses. The immune profile of the tumor microenvironment (TME) showed increased cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and decreased MDSCs and regulatory T cells in the triple combination therapy mice compared to controls. CONCLUSION The combination of ibrutinib, focal RT, and anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade led to a significant survival benefit compared to controls in a preclinical model of GBM.

scholarly journals Antitumor Peptide-Based Vaccine in the Limelight

Vaccines ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Takumi Kumai ◽  
Hidekiyo Yamaki ◽  
Michihisa Kono ◽  
Ryusuke Hayashi ◽  
Risa Wakisaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Immune Cells ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Tumor Antigens ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Recent Experimental Data ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Tumor Reduction

The success of the immune checkpoint blockade has provided a proof of concept that immune cells are capable of attacking tumors in the clinic. However, clinical benefit is only observed in less than 20% of the patients due to the non-specific activation of immune cells by the immune checkpoint blockade. Developing tumor-specific immune responses is a challenging task that can be achieved by targeting tumor antigens to generate tumor-specific T-cell responses. The recent advancements in peptide-based immunotherapy have encouraged clinicians and patients who are struggling with cancer that is otherwise non-treatable with current therapeutics. By selecting appropriate epitopes from tumor antigens with suitable adjuvants, peptides can elicit robust antitumor responses in both mice and humans. Although recent experimental data and clinical trials suggest the potency of tumor reduction by peptide-based vaccines, earlier clinical trials based on the inadequate hypothesis have misled that peptide vaccines are not efficient in eliminating tumor cells. In this review, we highlighted the recent evidence that supports the rationale of peptide-based antitumor vaccines. We also discussed the strategies to select the optimal epitope for vaccines and the mechanism of how adjuvants increase the efficacy of this promising approach to treat cancer.

scholarly journals The Role of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in the Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of Clinical Trials

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammet Ozer ◽  
Andrew George ◽  
Suleyman Yasin Goksu ◽  
Thomas J. George ◽  
Ilyas Sahin
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Cell Death ◽  
Liver Cancer ◽  
Programmed Cell Death ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Primary Liver Cancer ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Line Treatment

The prevalence of primary liver cancer is rapidly rising all around the world. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer. Unfortunately, the traditional treatment methods to cure HCC showed poor efficacy in patients who are not candidates for liver transplantation. Until recently, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were the front-line treatment for unresectable liver cancer. However, rapidly emerging new data has drastically changed the landscape of HCC treatment. The combination treatment of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (immunotherapy plus anti-VEGF) was shown to provide superior outcomes and has become the new standard first-line treatment for unresectable or metastatic HCC. Currently, ongoing clinical trials with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) have focused on assessing the benefit of antibodies against programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte- associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) as monotherapies or combination therapies in patients with HCC. In this review, we briefly discuss the mechanisms underlying various novel immune checkpoint blockade therapies and combination modalities along with recent/ongoing clinical trials which may generate innovative new treatment approaches with potential new FDA approvals for HCC treatment in the near future.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document