RESUMEN
Currently, immunotherapy is considered as the fourth major modality of cancer treatment except surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The new therapeutic approach based on immune checkpoint inhibitors is a landmark innovation. Strategies considering checkpoint inhibitors have shown good anti-tumor effect by targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Moreover, DNA mismatch repair-deficient tumors appear to be potential candidates for these therapies. This review summarizes the discussion and oral presentations in the annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and ASCO-gastrointestinal cancer (GI) in 2016 and provides an update on immunotherapy in gastrointestinal cancers.
RESUMEN
As a new type of antitumor therapy, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors is a landmark innovation in the treatment of malignant tumors. Previous studies suggest that the immune checkpoint inhibition might be also effective in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. In order to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy, several different strategies are currently under evaluation. In this review, the related discussions in European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Translational Research Meeting in 2014 and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in the resent two years are summarized. Moreover, the paper reviews the latest clinical research progress about the immunotherapy of gastrointestinal cancers from five aspects: The infiltration of immune cells and new molecular targets, immune checkpoint inhibitors, genetic marker for immunotherapy, combination of checkpoint inhibitors and oncolytic virus, and individualized immunotherapy.