Immune Checkpoint Inhibitory Therapy in Sarcomas: Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Simple Summary Soft tissue and bone sarcomas is a very heterogeneous group of tumors that has an aggressive course, especially in the metastatic setting. In this group the therapeutic options are rather limited. Immunotherapy is nowadays used successfully for the treatment of various tumor types. However in sarcomas this is still not the case. In this review article we aim to present all the available published information from clinical trials about the results of using immune checkpoint blockade as a therapeutic agent in sarcomas. Moreover, we try to unravel the possible prognostic biomarkers that may play here an important role. Soft tissue and bone sarcomas are a very heterogeneous group of tumors with many subtypes for which diagnosis and treatment remains a very challenging task. On top of that, the treatment choices are limited, and the prognosis of aggressive sarcomas remains poor. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have drawn a lot of attention last years because of their promising response rates and their durable effects. ICIs are currently widely used in the daily routine practice for the treatment of a different malignancies, such as melanoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and non-small cell lung carcinoma. Still, ICIs are not included in the standard treatment protocols of the different sarcoma types. However, a plethora of clinical trials investigates the clinical benefit of ICIs in sarcomas. There is clear need to develop predictive biomarkers to determine which sarcoma patients are most likely to benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. This review will focus on (i) the clinical trial results on the use of ICIs in different sarcoma types; and on (ii) possible biomarkers predictive for the effectiveness of these drugs in sarcomas.

Automated summary

Soft tissue and bone sarcomas are heterogeneous tumors with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors show promising results in other malignancies but have not been widely used in sarcomas. Predictive biomarkers are needed to determine which sarcoma patients could benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. Numerous clinical trials are underway to investigate the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in sarcomas.