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Review
. 2022 Feb 28;10(3):573.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10030573.

Current Status and Future Directions of Immunotherapies in Soft Tissue Sarcomas

William G J Kerrison  1 , Alexander T J Lee  2 , Khin Thway  1   3 , Robin L Jones  3   4 , Paul H Huang  1
Affiliations
Review

Current Status and Future Directions of Immunotherapies in Soft Tissue Sarcomas

William G J Kerrison et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Immunotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) has experienced a surge of interest in the past decade, contributing to an expanding number of therapeutic options for this extremely heterogenous group of rare malignancies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) targeting the PD-1 and CTLA-4 axes have demonstrated promising responses in a select number of STS subtypes, including rarer subtypes, such as alveolar soft part sarcoma, SWI/SNF-deficient sarcomas, clear cell sarcoma, and angiosarcoma. Multiple pan-subtype sarcoma trials have facilitated the study of possible predictive biomarkers of the CPI response. It has also become apparent that certain therapies, when combined with CPIs, can enhance response rates, although the specific mechanisms of this possible synergy remain unconfirmed in STS. In addition to CPIs, several other immune targeting agents, including anti-tumour-associated macrophage and antigen-directed therapies, are now under assessment in STS with promising efficacy in some subtypes. In this article, we review the state of the art in immunotherapy in STS, highlighting the pre-clinical and clinical data available for this promising therapeutic strategy.

Keywords: immunotherapy; sarcoma; tissue sarcoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

R.L.J. is the recipient of grants/research support from Merck Sharp & Dohme and GlaxoSmithKline. R.L.J. is the recipient of consultation fees from Adaptimmune, Athenex, Blueprint Medicines, Clinigen, Eisai, Epizyme, Daichii, Deciphera, Immune Design, Lilly, Merck, PharmaMar and UpToDate.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of immunomodulatory agents under preclinical or clinical assessment for STS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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