A Bright Future for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Mesothelioma Treatment

A new report shows that immune checkpoint inhibitors can be a practical and rational therapeutic approach to treating mesothelioma patients. The use of ICIs to treat human tumors has quickly become part of clinical practice.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors block mesothelioma’s natural resistance to immune system attack. They are among the most promising approaches to combating this intractable cancer.

Researchers from the Cellular and Molecular Research Center report the use of ICIs in tumor immunotherapy.

What is Tumor Immunotherapy?

Malignant mesothelioma is a frustrating disease for patients and doctors. Conventional cancer treatments often do not work. If cancer recurs, doctors can try other approved treatments, even if they are not part of the official treatment guidelines.

Immunotherapy is also referred to as biological therapy. It uses the patient’s immune system to treat mesothelioma. Immunotherapy treatment options include vaccine therapy, as well as a treatment that involves an immune cytokine.

These treatments typically attempt to stimulate an immune response in the patient’s body to fight cancer. Several of these approaches have been tried in treating mesothelioma.

Tumor immunotherapy is a broad category of cancer treatments that use the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

What are immune checkpoint inhibitors?

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a form of immunotherapy. One of the reasons mesothelioma tumors can grow out of control is their ability to trick the immune system.

Malignant mesothelioma cells produce a protein called PD-1 that helps deflect cancer-killing cells. An immune checkpoint inhibitor blocks that protein so it cannot deliver its protective message.

Dr. Naimi’s study reviewed how ICIs are being used to treat cancer patients. It has firmly been documented that immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapies can be practical and rational therapeutic approaches to treating cancer patients.

But some treatment-related toxicities still restrict ICIs use in the clinic.

The Conclusion

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are one of the leading approaches in tumor immunotherapy. There are many approved clinical trials that have been accomplished or are ongoing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ICIs.

ICIs are a game-changing tool for cancer treatment. Although ICIs are the among first immunotherapy of choice for mesothelioma, they may cause several serious adverse effects.

Combination therapies using ICIs and chemotherapy or other therapies are currently being studied.

Source

Naimi A, Mohammed RN, Raji A, Chupradit S, Yumashev AV, Suksatan W, Shalaby MN, Thangavelu L, Kamrava S, Shomali N, Sohrabi AD, Adili A, Noroozi-Aghideh A, Razeghian E. Tumor immunotherapies by immune checkpoint inhibitors (Immune checkpoint inhibitors); the pros and cons. Cell Commun Signal. 2022 Apr 7;20(1):44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12964-022-00854-y