Benign tumors broaden the field of application for immunotherapy

Abstract

Immunotherapy has shown significant potential for treating malignancies. Not yet widely considered is the opportunity to employ immunotherapy for the treatment of benign tumors. By focusing on targetable antigens expressed following specific genetic changes associated with individual benign tumors, immunotherapy may provide an effective approach to benign tumor treatment, circumventing the need for more conventional surgery. Immunotherapies can specifically recognize and target tumor cells, which could be especially beneficial for benign tumors given the extended timeframe available for treatment. Thus, benign tumors, offering a greater window of opportunity for treatment and a relatively stable phenotype associated with a limited mutation burden, can derive great benefit from immunotherapeutic approaches targeting antigens uniquely associated with each condition.

Keywords: adoptive T cell therapy; antigens; benign tumors; checkpoint inhibitors; immunotherapy; mutations; tumor vaccines.

Figure 1

Histological features of various benign tumors and lesions. (A) Pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (pituitary adenoma): Solid sheets to nests of epithelioid cells with abundant acidophilic cytoplasm within a fibrovascular stroma. (B) Uterine leiomyoma (fibroid): Benign tumor of smooth muscle origin, composed of intersecting fascicles of spindle-shaped cells with indistinct borders, eosinophilic cytoplasm, and cigar-shaped nuclei. (C) Section of liver with cavernous hemangioma: Benign vascular tumor composed of variably sized, dilated and thin- walled vessels lined by a single layer of flat endothelial cells. (D) Meningioma: Benign neoplasm of cerebral meninges composed of spindle cells with meningothelial whorls and psammoma bodies. (E) Acquired intradermal melanocytic nevus: Nested proliferation of melanocytes in the dermis. The cells have scant cytoplasm, regular nuclei and are separated by a collagenous stroma. (F) Neuroma: Disorganized spindle cell proliferation of nerve components. (G) Osteochondroma: Mature hyaline cartilage with overlying fibrous perichondrium. (H) Condyloma acuminatum: Hyperplastic papillomatous squamous proliferation with a fibrovascular core and focal koilocytosis. (I) Lipoma: Benign soft tissue tumors characterized by uniform proliferation of mature adipose tissue. All images represent H&E (hematoxylin and eosin) stained tissue sections of paraffin-embedded tissues, showing the physiologic variety to indicate that benign tumors might be selectively targeted.