Primary and metastatic brain cancer genomics and emerging biomarkers for immunomodulatory cancer treatment. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Passiglia, F.; Caglevic, C.; Giovannetti, E.; Pinto, JA.; Manca, P.; Taverna, S.; Listì, A.; Gil-Bazo, I.; Raez, LE.; Russo, A.; Rolfo, C.
• Is Part Of: Seminars in cancer biology. Volume 52(2018)Part 2
• Page Start: 259
• Page End: 268
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: Brain -- Metastasis -- Immunotherapy -- CTLA4 -- PD1/PDL1 -- Biomarkers; Cancer -- Periodicals; Neoplasms -- Periodicals; Review Literature; Cancer -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 616.994
• DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.01.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1044-579X

Abstract

Abstract: Recent studies with immunomodulatory agents targeting both cytotoxic T-lymphocyte protein 4 (CTLA4) and programmed cell death 1 (PD1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PDL1) have shown to be very effective in several cancers revealing an unexpected great activity in patients with both primary and metastatic brain tumors. Combining anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 agents as upfront systemic therapy has revealed to further increase the clinical benefit observed with single agent, even at cost of higher toxicity. Since the brain is an immunological specialized area it's crucial to establish the specific composition of the brain tumors' microenvironment in order to predict the potential activity of immunomodulatory agents. This review briefly summarizes the basis of the brain immunogenicity, providing the most updated clinical evidences in terms of immune-checkpoint inhibitors efficacy and toxicity in both primary and metastatic brain tumors with the final aim of defining potential biomarkers for immunomodulatory cancer treatment.