Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jan;8(1):43-54.
doi: 10.2217/thy.10.84.

Immunotherapy as a strategy for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer

Gregory E Holt  1 , Eckhard R Podack, Luis E Raez
Affiliations

Immunotherapy as a strategy for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer

Gregory E Holt et al. Therapy. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

Positive modulation of a patient's immune system to produce antitumor immunity is an attractive strategy that may improve the dismal outcomes typically associated with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Using methods that either augment specific antitumor immunity or positively influence the patient's immune system to allow the de novo generation of immunity to encompass current strategies used in recent clinical trials of NSCLC. Encouraging results of Phase II trials in antigen-specific immunotherapy have led to three subsequent Phase III trials, which are currently enrolling. Results of these trials will improve our understanding of the role that immunotherapy plays in the treatment of NSCLC. Successful application of a humoral vaccine in Cuba led to its approval for the treatment of advanced NSCLC patients in that country. To date, trials involving nonspecific immunotherapeutic interventions have failed to improve outcomes in NSCLC and may indicate a need to combine them with antigen-specific vaccines. Although these trials will greatly advance our knowledge of NSCLC immunotherapy, we believe truly efficacious immunotherapy may only result from implementation of strategies to both augment antitumor immunity and counteract tumor-mediated immunosuppression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic demonstrating the methods used by non-small-cell lung cancer to counteract tumor immunity through both the blockade of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte killing of tumors and inhibition of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte priming
CTL: Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte; DC: Dentritic cell; NSCLC: Non-small-cell lung cancer; PGE: Prostaglandin E; Treg: Regulatory T cell.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

Bibliography

    1. Higano CS, Schellhammer PF, Small EJ, et al. Integrated data from 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 trials of active cellular immunotherapy with Sipuleucel-T in advanced prostate cancer. Cancer. 2009;115(16):3670–3679. First US FDA-approved immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. - PubMed
    1. Kenter GG, Welters MJ, Valentijn AR, et al. Vaccination against HPV-16 oncoproteins for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia. N Engl J Med. 2009;361(19):1838–1847. - PubMed
    1. Phan GQ, Yang JC, Sherry RM, et al. Cancer regression and autoimmunity induced by cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 blockade in patients with metastatic melanoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2003;100(14):8372–8377. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Attia P, Phan GQ, Maker AV, et al. Autoimmunity correlates with tumor regression in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(25):6043–6053. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schreiber TH, Raez L, Rosenblatt JD, Podack ER. Tumor immunogenicity and responsiveness to cancer vaccine therapy: the state of the art. Semin Immunol. 2010;22(3):105–112. - PMC - PubMed

Websites

    1. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures. 2010. www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/doc....
    1. GSK1572932A Antigen-Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic as Adjuvant Therapy in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00480025.
    1. Cancer Vaccine Study for Unresectable Stage III Non-small Cell Lung Cancer. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00409188.
    1. Phase III Lucanix™ Vaccine Therapy in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Following Front-line Chemotherapy (STOP) http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00676507.

LinkOut - more resources