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Review
. 2021 Mar 26;10(7):1367.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10071367.

Checkpoint Inhibitors as High-Grade Gliomas Treatment: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Pasquale Persico  1   2 , Elena Lorenzi  1   2 , Angelo Dipasquale  1   2 , Federico Pessina  1   3 , Pierina Navarria  4 , Letterio S Politi  1   5 , Armando Santoro  1   2 , Matteo Simonelli  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Checkpoint Inhibitors as High-Grade Gliomas Treatment: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Pasquale Persico et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive malignant brain tumor in adults. Despite significant efforts, no therapies have demonstrated valuable survival benefit beyond the current standard of care. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have revolutionized the treatment landscape and improved patient survival in many advanced malignancies. Unfortunately, these clinical successes have not been replicated in the neuro-oncology field so far. This review summarizes the status of ICI investigation in high-grade gliomas, critically presenting the available data from preclinical models and clinical trials. Moreover, we explore new approaches to increase ICI efficacy, with a particular focus on combinatorial strategies, and the potential biomarkers to identify patients most likely to benefit from immune checkpoint blockade.

Keywords: PD-1; PD-L1; checkpoint inhibitors; glioblastoma; glioma; immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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