Next Steps for Immunotherapy in Glioblastoma

Simple Summary Prognosis for glioblastoma patients remains poor despite the current standard of care treatments. More recent investigations have focused on immunotherapy, which utilizes a patient's immune system to target cancer cells. Though proven to be successful in non-central nervous system cancers, immunotherapies have yielded disappointing results for glioblastoma thus far. A variety of factors play into the efficacy of immunotherapy for glioblastoma and have become new areas of interest. Here we review both historical and emerging immunotherapeutic approaches, as well as the molecular factors that have been shown to impact the efficacy of immunotherapies. Outcomes for glioblastoma (GBM) patients undergoing standard of care treatment remain poor. Here we discuss the portfolio of previously investigated immunotherapies for glioblastoma, including vaccine therapy and checkpoint inhibitors, as well as novel emerging therapeutic approaches. In addition, we explore the factors that potentially influence response to immunotherapy, which should be considered in future research aimed at improving immunotherapy efficacy.

Automated summary

Despite current standard treatments, prognosis for glioblastoma patients remains poor. Immunotherapy, which harnesses the patient's immune system, has shown success in non-central nervous system cancers but lacks efficacy for glioblastoma. Factors impacting immunotherapy efficacy for glioblastoma have become a new focus of research.