Challenges in clinical design of immunotherapy trials for malignant glioma.

ABSTRACT: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary malignant brain tumor. The traditional treatments for GBM, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, only modestly improve patient survival. Therefore, immunotherapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic modality. Immunotherapeutic strategies exploit the immune system's ability to recognize and mount a specific response against tumor cells, but not normal cells. Current immunotherapeutic approaches for glioma can be divided into 3 categories: immune priming (active immunotherapy), immunomodulation (passive immunotherapy), and adoptive immunotherapy. Immune priming sensitizes the patient's immune cells to tumor antigens using various vaccination protocols. In the case of immunomodulation, strategies are aimed at reducing

SUBMITTER: Rolle CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2786905 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature