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Review
. 2022 Oct 10;25(11):105326.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105326. eCollection 2022 Nov 18.

Immunotherapy approaches for hematological cancers

Affiliations
Review

Immunotherapy approaches for hematological cancers

Olivia L Lanier et al. iScience. .

Abstract

Hematological cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma have traditionally been treated with chemo and radiotherapy approaches. Introduction of immunotherapies for treatment of these diseases has led to patient remissions that would not have been possible with traditional approaches. In this critical review we identify main disease characteristics, symptoms, and current treatment options. Five common immunotherapies, namely checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, cell-based therapies, antibodies, and oncolytic viruses, are described, and their applications in hematological cancers are critically discussed.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Cancer; Health sciences; Immunology; Oncology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Multiple myeloma pathogenesis Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Current treatments for Multiple myeloma (A) First-line therapy for patients under 70 years. (B) Regimens for patients not eligible for ASCT (65–75 years). (C) Established treatments for patient relapse. BTZ, Bortezomib; CFZ, Carfilzomib; IXZ, ixazomib; DEX, Dexamethasone; CP, cyclophosphamide; MEL, melphalan; IMiD, immunomodulatory drugs; THAL, thalidomide; LD, lenalidomide; POM, pomalidomide; PRD, prednisone; mAb, monoclonal antibodies; DARA, daratumumab; ELO, elotuzumab; ISA, isatuximab; SEL, selinexor; ASCT, autologous stem cell transplantation
Figure 3
Figure 3
Main immunotherapies used for hematological cancers: checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, cell-based, antibodies, and oncolytic viruses
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mechanism of PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors
Figure 5
Figure 5
Different types of cancer vaccines and mechanisms of delivery Vaccines can consist of antigens of DNA, mRNA, protein/peptide, or cell-based. They can be introduced into the patient directly to recruit immune cells or immune cells can be trained ex vivo to respond to antigen and then introduced back to the patient. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Monoclonal and bispecific antibodies for targeted treatment Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Summary of immune activation following exposure to OV (A) Danger signal release and DC maturation. Oncolytic adenoviruses infect tumor cells and cause oncolysis, releasing new virus progeny but also DAMPS and PAMPS, which will activate nearby dendritic cells and foster their maturation by upregulating co-stimulatory markers, such as CD80, CD83, and CD86. (B Mature dendritic cells will process tumor debris and present tumor-associated and virus antigens to local and distant T cells. Concurrently, the ongoing virus infection attracts T cells to the tumor site. (C) The activation of B cells by CD4+T cells or BCR-virus interaction causes the release of neutralizing antibodies, which mark infected tumor cells for ADCC by NK cells, or phagocytosis by M1 macrophages. (D) CD8+T cells and NK cells destroy infected and non-infected tumor cells through INFg/GranzB and GranzB/Perforins, respectively. The oncolytic adenovirus infection also upregulates class I HLA in tumor cells, allowing for increased exposure to CD8+T cells. Overall, the components of this modulation allow the tumor microenvironment to become “hot” with increased immunological activity. DAMP danger-associated molecular patterns, PAMP pathogen-associated molecular patterns, HLA human leukocyte antigen, BCR B cell receptor. Reprinted from reference (Hemminki et al., 2020) with license permission. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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