Molecular Immunotherapy: Promising Approach to Treat Metastatic Colorectal Cancer by Targeting Resistant Cancer Cells or Cancer Stem Cells

The immune system is able to recognize and eliminate tumor cells. Some tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC), induce immune tolerance via different mechanisms of immunoediting and immune evasion and can thus escape immune surveillance. The impact of immunotherapy on cancer has been investigated for many years, but so far, the application was limited to few cancer types. Immuno-oncological therapeutic strategies against metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the adaptive immune system activating approaches, offer a high potential for adaptation to the great heterogeneity of CRC. Moreover, novel treatment approaches are currently being tested that might specifically target the disease initiating and maintaining population of colorectal cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this review, we aim to summarize the current state of immune-oncology and tumor immunotherapy of patients with mCRC and discuss different therapeutic modalities that focus on the activation of tumor-specific T-cells and their perspectives such as tumor vaccination, checkpoint inhibition, and adoptive T-cell transfer or on the eradication of colorectal CSCs.