The Evolving Role of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Cancer Treatment.

ABSTRACT:

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Traditional treatment modalities for advanced cancer (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or targeted agents) act directly on tumors to inhibit or destroy them. Along with surgery, these modalities are predominantly palliative, with toxicity and only modest improvements in survival in patients with advanced solid tumors. Accordingly, long-term survival rates for most patients with advanced cancer remain low, thus there is a need for cancer treatments with favorable benefit and toxicity profiles that can potentially result in long-term survival. The immune system plays a critical role in the recognition and eradication of tumor cells ("immune surveillance"), and immunotherapies based on this concept have been used for decades with some success against a few tumor types; however,

SUBMITTER: Pennock GK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4492230 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature