Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for High-Risk, Resectable Malignancies: Scientific Rationale and Clinical Challenges
A partir d'une revue d'essais cliniques, cette étude fait le point sur l'efficacité des immunothérapies dispensées dans un contexte néoadjuvant chez des patients présentant une tumeur résécable à haut risque de récidive et souligne les enjeux associés à cette utilisation
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy involves administering immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) before surgical resection in high-risk resectable disease. This strategy was shown to have a high pathological response rate and prolonged relapse-free survival in randomized trials in melanoma, glioblastoma, and colon cancer with small numbers of patients. In resectable cancers, ICIs such as anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD1) and anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) can enhance anti-tumor immunity by activating antigen-specific T-cells found in the primary tumor. These tumor-reactive T-cells continue to exert anti-tumor effects on remaining neoplastic cells after the resection of the primary tumor, potentially preventing relapses from occurring. Based on the scientific rationale and early clinical observations with surrogate survival endpoints, neoadjuvant immunotherapy may provide an effective alternative to other therapeutic strategies such as adjuvant treatment. However, this can only be determined by conducting randomized controlled trials comparing neoadjuvant immunotherapy to the current standard of care for each tumor site. This review will discuss the cellular mechanisms that occur during successful neoadjuvant immunotherapy and highlight the clinical data from the available human studies that support the preclinical mechanistic data. Here we also discuss strategies required for successful neoadjuvant immunotherapy, including combination treatment strategies and resistance mechanisms to neoadjuvant treatment.