The goals of any cancer therapy are to improve disease control, palliate pain and improve overall survival.
We are fortunate to have in our cancer armamentarium two new immune-directed therapies which not only impact on disease control but also on overall survival. The first, sipuleucel-T, a cellular-based vaccine, was approved for prostate cancer and was shown to be safe with minimal toxicity. The second, ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody directed to an immunologic checkpoint molecule, showed a survival benefit in patients with advanced melanoma. Benefit appeared to correlate in some cases with the development of autoimmune events, signaling that the immune system is in overdrive against the cancer. Where we are and where we will likely go are the topics to be discussed in this review.
Written by:
Snyder A, Tepper JE, Slovin SF. Are you the author?
Genitourinary Oncology Service, Sidney Kimmel Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
Reference: Semin Oncol. 2013 Jun;40(3):347-60.
doi: 10.1053/j.seminoncol.2013.04.009
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23806499
