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Immunotherapy of Gliomas

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Oncoimmunology

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Abstract

Gliomas are incurable diffusely infiltrating intrinsic brain tumors with a particular medical need as standard of care has not moved beyond surgery and radiochemotherapy despite profound efforts with targeted agents. Immunotherapy of gliomas is a particularly challenging field in immunooncology as these tumors grow in an immune-privileged site and—particularly in glioblastomas, the most malignant type of gliomas—create an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Preclinical animal models and case reports applying checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cells indicate that the central nervous system per se does not represent a barrier for translating an effective antitumor immune response to gliomas. Rather, human gliomas are generally poorly immunogenic as also indicated by the comparatively low mutational load. Current challenges include the definition of appropriate antigens and the reversal of the tumor-associated immune suppression. This review summarizes current preclinical and phase I–III concepts in glioma immunooncology and aims at describing a path forward for the development of successful immunotherapies, which will likely encompass combinatorial approaches aiming at inducing an antigen-specific immune response and reversal of glioma immunosuppression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DKTK Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology, German Cancer Research Center [DKFZ], Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Michael Platten

  2. Department of Neurology, University Hospital Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Michael Platten

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  1. Michael Platten
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Correspondence to Michael Platten .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Gustave Roussy Cancer Center , Villejuif Cedex, France

    Laurence Zitvogel

  2. Gustave Roussy Cancer Center , Villejuif Cedex, France

    Guido Kroemer

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Platten, M. (2018). Immunotherapy of Gliomas. In: Zitvogel, L., Kroemer, G. (eds) Oncoimmunology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62431-0_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62431-0_39

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62430-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62431-0

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