Novel immunotherapeutic approaches to glioma

Abstract

Despite advances in radiation, chemotherapy and surgical resectioning, the prognosis of patients with malignant glioma is poor. Therefore, the development of a new treatment modality is extremely important. There are an increasing number of reports that systemic immunotherapy using dendritic cells and peptides is capable of inducing an anti-glioma response. This review highlights progress in dendritic cell- and peptide-based immunotherapy for glioma patients. Dendritic cell- and peptide-based immunotherapy strategies appear promising as an approach to successfully induce an antitumor immune response and increase survival in patients with glioma; the therapy appears to be safe and without major side effects. Biotherapy for malignant glioma with dendritic cells and peptides represents a novel treatment paradigm.