Immunotherapy for Brain Tumors: Where We Have Been, and Where Do We Go From Here?

Immunotherapy for glioblastoma (GBM) remains an intensive area of investigation. Given the seismic impact of cancer immunotherapy across a range of malignancies, there is optimism that harnessing the power of immunity will influence GBM as well. However, despite several phase 3 studies, there are still no FDA-approved immunotherapies for GBM. Importantly, the field has learned a great deal from the randomized studies to date. Today, we are continuing to better understand the disease-specific features of the microenvironment in GBM—as well as the exploitable antigenic characteristic of the tumor cells themselves—that are informing the next generation of immune-based therapeutic strategies. The coming phase of next-generation immunotherapies is thus poised to bring us closer to treatments that will improve the lives of patients with GBM.