On the Verge: Immunotherapy for Colorectal Carcinoma.
Although overall survival from colorectal cancer (CRC) has steadily improved over the past decade, there is still work to be done. The gains associated with improved detection and treatment paradigms with chemotherapy and biologics appear to have reached their ceiling. Immune-based therapies have recently demonstrated clinical benefit in other cancers, including CRC with microsatellite instability (MSI), but patients with CRC without MSI have not yet derived benefit. This article reviews the history of CRC immunotherapy trials, the conceptual basis for why the activity of the immune system may be relevant to survival in CRC, and current efforts in CRC immunotherapy, and speculates about future efforts in this area based on experience with immunotherapy efforts in other classes of solid tumors.
From the Department of Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
David Y
DY
Oh
From the Department of Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Alan P
AP
Venook
From the Department of Medicine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Lawrence
L
Fong
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007155:Immunologic Factors