title: Advances in immunotherapy for the treatment of glioblastoma.
abstract: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumour, associated with extremely poor prognosis and although there have been therapeutic advances, treatment options remain limited. This review focuses on the use of immunotherapy, harnessing the power of the host's immune system to reject cancer cells. Key challenges in glioma specific immunotherapy as with many other cancers are the limited immunogenicity of the cancer cells and the immunosuppressive environment of the tumour. Although specific antigens have been identified in several cancers; brain tumours, such as GBM, are considered poorly immunogenic. However, as detailed in this review, strategies aimed at circumventing these challenges are showing promise for GBM treatment; including identification of glioma specific antigens and endogenous immune cell activation in an attempt to overcome the immunosuppressive environment which is associated with GBM tumours. An up-to-date summary of current Phase I/II and ongoing Phase III GBM immunotherapy clinical trials is provided in addition to insights into promising preclinical approaches which are focused predominantly on increased induction of Type 1 helper T cell (Th1) immune responses within patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Medical Physics and RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. amandativnan@rcsi.ie.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5851-6208
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tivnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Medical Physics and RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.|IMC Fachhochschule Krems, University of Applied Sciences, Piaristengasse 1, 3500, Krems, Austria.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heilinger
authors.affiliation: Adjuvant Research Group, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, D02 PN40, Ireland.|Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, D02 PN40, Ireland.|Advanced Materials Bio-Engineering Research Centre (AMBER), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, D02 PN40, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ed C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Lavelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Medical Physics and RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jochen H M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Prehn
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Brain cancer; Glioblastoma; Immunotherapy; Vaccines