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Review
. 2018 Apr 19;9(10):1773-1781.
doi: 10.7150/jca.24577. eCollection 2018.

Current status and future directions of cancer immunotherapy

Hongming Zhang  1 , Jibei Chen  1
Affiliations
Review

Current status and future directions of cancer immunotherapy

Hongming Zhang et al. J Cancer. .

Abstract

In the past decades, our knowledge about the relationship between cancer and the immune system has increased considerably. Recent years' success of cancer immunotherapy including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), cancer vaccines, adoptive cancer therapy and the immune checkpoint therapy has revolutionized traditional cancer treatment. However, challenges still exist in this field. Personalized combination therapies via new techniques will be the next promising strategies for the future cancer treatment direction.

Keywords: cancer; cancer immunotherapy; challenges; future directions; immune system.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Important events in the history of cancer immunotherapy. BCG, bacilli Calmette-Guérin; CTLA-4, cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; IFNα, interferon-α; IL-2, interleukin-2; MHC, major histocompatibilty complex; PD-1, programmed death 1; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; VIN, vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia
Figure 2
Figure 2
Depicture of cells in the innate and adaptive immune system
Figure 3
Figure 3
Methods of immunotherapy. MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cells; PD-1, programmed death-1; PD-L1, programmed death-ligand 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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