title: Developing immunotherapeutic strategies to target brain tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent years have seen rapid growth in cancer treatments that enhance the anti-tumor activities of the immune system. Collectively known as immunotherapy, modulation of the immune system has shown success treating some hematological malignancies, but has yet to be successfully applied to the treatment of patients with brain tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review highlights mechanistic insights from murine studies and compiled recent clinical trial data, focusing on the most aggressive brain tumor, glioblastoma (GBM). The field has recently accumulated a critical mass of data, and we discuss past treatment failures in the context of newly developed approaches now entering clinical trials. This article provides an overview of the immunotherapeutic armamentarium currently in development for the treatment of patients with GBM, who are in dire need of safe and effective therapies. Expert commentary: Themes that emerge include the importance of mitigating the effects of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and the potential for innate immune cell activation to enhance cytotoxic anti-tumor activity. Consideration of these studies as a collective may inform the design of new immunotherapies, as well as the immune monitoring protocols for patients participating in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: a Seattle Children's Research Institute, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research , Seattle , WA , USA.
authors.forename: Nicole A P
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Lieberman
authors.affiliation: a Seattle Children's Research Institute, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research , Seattle , WA , USA.
authors.forename: Kara White
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Moyes
authors.affiliation: a Seattle Children's Research Institute, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research , Seattle , WA , USA.|b Department of Neurological Surgery , University of Washington School of Medicine , Seattle , WA , USA.
authors.forename: Courtney A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Crane
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000276:immunology; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Immunotherapy; adjuvant therapy; brain tumor; cellular therapy; clinical trial; glioblastoma; immune suppression; innate immunity; tumor microenvironment