Immuno Oncology: What have the Last 3 Decades Brought?

Abstract

A little over 30 years ago, the discovery and availability of recombinant growth factors for human lymphocytes, such as IL-2, prompted experimental use of IL-2 to both treat patients directly and for ex vivo expansion of lymphocytes for therapeutic reinfusion. In contrast to the standard practice of immunization, IL-2 therapy represented a pioneering step in developing a course of therapy that involved manipulation of the host immune system. Adoptive immunotherapy produced and still produces some stunning successes but not in all cases and not without the possibility of considerable and severe side effects. The recent approval of Mabs that are checkpoint inhibitors to treat such deadly cancers as melanoma, have opened the door for clinical testing of other Mabs to antigens related to immune surveillance. Adoptive cell immunotherapy has progressed to incorporate elements from adaptive therapy in so far as the cells may be engineered to specifically seek out antigens, as in the CAR-T cell therapy, or may be cultured with markers on specific cancers when appropriately specific antigens are known, such as prostate cancer antigens; MUC1, PAP, PSA, PSMA. Both the development of a range of immunotherapy agents and clinical experience with them continues with the promise to identify how to use this new armory effectively on the war on cancer.