Журнал интегративной онкологии

The Promise of Oncoimmunology: Integrating Immunotherapy with Conventional Cancer Treatments

Abstract

Cheena Chawla P and Anil Chawla

The goal of immunotherapy is to eliminate cancer cells through the transfer of ex vivo expanded and activated immune cells. Immune cells such as Dendritic Cells (DCs), Natural Killer (NK) cells, Cytotoxic T-cells, and Cytokine Induced Killer (CIK) cells have been investigated for active immunotherapy against cancer. Besides, the passive transfer of Monoclonal Antibodies has been an effective treatment for some cancers. However, for immunotherapy to become the mainstay of treating various cancers, it is pertinent that encouraging data on the clinical trials are available that clearly demonstrate the importance of immunotherapy in enhancing patient survival rate for different cancers and improving their quality of life. Promising trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy for prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, gastric and colorectal cancers has opened the door to research in oncoimmunology for integrating immunotherapy with conventional cancer treatments.