Cancer immunotherapy takes a multi-faceted approach to kick the immune system into gear

Abstract

Cancer accounts for about every fourth death in the United States, with approximately 1,500 people dying each day as a result of this disease. Despite some progress in the last decades, these numbers alone undoubtedly demonstrate the urgent need for new and more efficient treatments. Immunotherapy aims to activate an efficient immune response against tumors or even prevent cancers from occurring in the first place. It is a growing field currently flourishing with several successful trials, some of which have led to the recent approval of new anti-cancer drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This review addresses the manifold strategies that immunotherapy has taken in the past and discusses the most recent achievements in the field.

Keywords: cancer vaccine; immune response; immunotherapy; monoclonal antibody.