Immunotherapy for primary brain tumors: no longer a matter of privilege.

ABSTRACT: Immunotherapy for cancer continues to gain both momentum and legitimacy as a rational mode of therapy and a vital treatment component in the emerging era of personalized medicine. Gliomas, and their most malignant form, glioblastoma, remain as a particularly devastating solid tumor for which standard treatment options proffer only modest efficacy and target specificity. Immunotherapy would seem a well-suited choice to address such deficiencies given both the modest inherent immunogenicity of gliomas and the strong desire for treatment specificity within the confines of the toxicity-averse normal brain. This review highlights the caveats and challenges to immunotherapy for primary brain tumors, as well as reviewing modalities that are currently used or are undergoing active investigation. T

SUBMITTER: Fecci PE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4235630 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature