Abstract
Over the last one to two decades, the field of cancer immunotherapy has rapidly progressed from early preclinical studies to a successful clinical reality and fourth major pillar of human cancer therapy. While current excitement in the field of immunotherapy is being driven by several major breakthroughs including immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapies, these advances stem from a foundation of pivotal studies demonstrating the immune systems role in tumor control and eradication. The following will be a succinct review on veterinary cancer immunotherapy as it pertains to manipulation of the innate immune system to control tumor growth and metastasis. In addition, we will provide an update on recent progress in our understanding of the innate immune system in veterinary tumor immunology, and how these gains may lead to novel therapies for the treatment of cancer in companion animals.
Highlights
Immunotherapy for cancer has rapidly moved from a research concept to successful clinical reality in cancer treatment for humans in the span of just 10 years [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We have reported that increased numbers of circulating monocytes are associated with shorter survival times in dogs with osteosarcoma and animals with B cell lymphoma [9,10]
We found that treatment with liposomal clodronate was associated with significant depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, as well as a significant reduction in tumor microvessel density; these reductions in tumor macrophages and angiogenesis did not translate to objective tumor responses [91]
Summary
Immunotherapy for cancer has rapidly moved from a research concept to successful clinical reality in cancer treatment for humans in the span of just 10 years [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Several major breakthroughs are driving the current excitement around cancer immunotherapy, including the discovery that blockade of immune checkpoint molecules can stimulate durable tumor remissions, as well as the administration of. Our understanding of the critical role of the innate immune system in regulating adaptive immune responses to cancer has increased rapidly [7,8,9]. We are poised to add immunotherapy as a fourth major pillar of cancer therapy, in addition to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. The following review will provide historical perspective on the use of biological response modifiers to activate innate immunity for tumor control, as well as discuss more recent studies using molecules targeting specific pathways in innate immune activation to induce non-specific anti-tumor immunity
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