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Review
. 2018 Feb;130(3-4):85-91.
doi: 10.1007/s00508-017-1285-9. Epub 2017 Nov 2.

Review of cancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors : Current concepts, expectations, limitations and pitfalls

Christiane Thallinger  1   2   3 , Thorsten Füreder  4   5 , Matthias Preusser  4   5 , Gerwin Heller  4   5 , Leonhard Müllauer  6 , Christoph Höller  7 , Helmut Prosch  8 , Natalija Frank  5 , Rafal Swierzewski  9 , Walter Berger  10 , Ulrich Jäger  11 , Christoph Zielinski  4   12   5
Affiliations
Review

Review of cancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors : Current concepts, expectations, limitations and pitfalls

Christiane Thallinger et al. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Immunotherapy by checkpoint inhibition is about to profoundly change cancer therapy. The number of indications are growing at an unprecedented speed. Clinical studies have demonstrated efficacy in a variety of solid tumors and in hematologic malignancies, although some clinical trials have produced negative results. Thus, it is fair to assume that there are obvious limitations and pitfalls in immunotherapy. Future concepts for combination treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitors have to be developed, but there is also urgent need for better and standardized biomarkers to identify those cancer patients who will benefit from treatment by checkpoint inhibition. The current overview summarizes current knowledge on immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment in malignancies, its outlook and limitations, diagnostic means and, finally, side effect management.

Keywords: Cancer; Experts; Immunotherapy; PD-1; Review.

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Conflict of interest statement

C. Thallinger, T. Füreder, M. Preusser, G. Heller, L. Müllauer, C. Höller, H. Prosch, N. Frank, R. Swierzewski, W. Berger, U. Jäger, and C. Zielinski received speakers fees from CECOG for this meeting.

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