Cancer immunotherapy comes of age

An overview of the latest advances in cancer immunotherapy. Passive immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies and donor T cells is effective in some types of cancer, but despite extensive research, the active stimulation of specific and durable anti-tumour immunity has proved elusive. Until recently that is, with the development of sipuleucel-T treatment for prostate cancer, and ipilimumab for some metastatic melanomas. These successes have renewed interest in cancer immunotherapy. This Review summarizes recent work on vaccines, T-cell immunomodulators and other active immunostimulants that, together with targeted therapies, could lead to cancer therapies in years to come. Activating the immune system for therapeutic benefit in cancer has long been a goal in immunology and oncology. After decades of disappointment, the tide has finally changed due to the success of recent proof-of-concept clinical trials. Most notable has been the ability of the anti-CTLA4 antibody, ipilimumab, to achieve a significant increase in survival for patients with metastatic melanoma, for which conventional therapies have failed. In the context of advances in the understanding of how tolerance, immunity and immunosuppression regulate antitumour immune responses together with the advent of targeted therapies, these successes suggest that active immunotherapy represents a path to obtain a durable and long-lasting response in cancer patients.