Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant primary brain cancer with a dreadful overall survival and for which treatment options are limited. Recent breakthroughs in novel immune-related treatment strategies for cancer have spurred interests in usurping the power of the patient’s immune system to recognize and eliminate GBM. Here, we discuss the unique properties of GBM’s tumor microenvironment, the effects of GBM standard on care therapy on tumor-associated immune cells, and review several approaches aimed at therapeutically targeting the immune system for GBM treatment. We believe that a comprehensive understanding of the intricate micro-environmental landscape of GBM will abound into the development of novel immunotherapy strategies for GBM patients.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by NIH/NCI grants CA183605, CA183605S1, and CA212605 and the DoD grant PC140571 (to V.A.B.) and NIH/NCI grants CA185137, CA179563, and CA069246 (to A.C.)
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Vassiliki A. Boussiotis has patents on the PD-1 pathway licensed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Merck, EMD-Serono, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Dako. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Boussiotis, V.A., Charest, A. Immunotherapies for malignant glioma. Oncogene 37, 1121–1141 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-017-0024-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-017-0024-z
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