Cell-mediated immunotherapy: its role in cancer treatment

• Main Author: Deshpande, Janhavee
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Immunology; CTLA-4; PD-1; Immunotherapy
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/23796

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States behind heart disease. While current treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are effective and widely used, medicine is moving towards more targeted and personalized therapies. Immunotherapy is one such treatment that utilizes the patient’s own immune system to target and eliminate tumor cells. It allows for the patient’s adaptive immune system to bypass the self-tolerance mechanisms used by the cancerous cells and be activated against the cancer. Two such self-tolerant mechanisms that are co-opted by tumor cells are the interactions between CTLA-4 and T lymphocytes and the interactions between PD-1 and PD-L1. Blocking these interactions allows for the recruitment of CTLs to the site of the tumor and subsequent attack. CTLA-4 and PD-1 are inhibitory costimulators that play a role in the suppression of the adaptive immune system. The interaction of these receptors with their respective ligands leads to self-tolerance, and is a common mechanism used as a protective measure against autoimmune reactions. Monoclonal antibodies against these two receptors and ligand have been tested in clinical trials and have shown efficacy against ovarian cancers, non-small cell lung carcinomas, colon cancers, and melanomas. By targeting the inhibitory signals, these monoclonal antibodies expose cancer cells as being “non-self” thus prompting the immune system to attack. Now, studies are focusing on combination therapies, which combine chemotherapeutics or other monoclonal antibodies with PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors to enhance the effectiveness of the drug. However, drawbacks and side effects to the therapy range from fatigue and nausea to development of autoimmune diseases. It brings forward that future studies will need a panel of predictive biomarkers to identify the best candidates for the immunotherapy. While there are many obstacles, such as a lower than expected efficacy of the immunotherapy, the progress made has important implications in the development of personalized medicine.