Brain Tumor Immunology: Part II : Immunotherapy of Malignant Brain Tumors

ABSTRACT

The prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors has improved only slightly despite the combined use of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy offers some possibilities and hopes as a fourth modality for the treatment of cancers although it is still in the early stages of development. It is possible to classify immunotherapy within four generally accepted modalities 1) restorative or nonspecific immunotherapy 2) adoptive immunotherapy 3) passive immunotherapy 4) active immunotherapy. The techniques of recombinant DNA, genetic engineering, cell fusion and hybridoma production, and molecular biology will make these therapeutic approaches more successful and as the clinical applications expand the skillful cancertherapist will become increasingly familiar with these treatments and the problems associated with their use.