Abstract
A collaborative think tank involving panellists from immuno-oncology networks, clinical/translational investigators and the pharmaceutical industry was held in Siena, Italy, in October 2017 to discuss the evolving immune-oncology landscape, identify selected key challenges, and provide a perspective on the next steps required in the translation of current research and knowledge to clinical reality. While there is a trend of combining new agents (e.g., co-stimulator agonists) with a PD-1/PD-L1 treatment backbone, use of alternative combination therapy approaches should also be considered. While the rapid evolution in systems biology provides a deeper understanding of tumor and tumor microenvironment heterogeneity, there remains the need to identify and define genuinely predictive biomarkers to guide treatment and patient selection. Cross-specialty and cross-sector collaboration, along with a broader collective data-sharing approach are key to optimizing immuno-oncology therapy in clinical practice. Continued support of younger research-clinicians is essential for future success in clinical, translational and basic science investigations.
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Abbreviations
- ALC:
-
Absolute lymphocyte count
- AMC:
-
Absolute monocyte count
- ANC:
-
Absolute neutrophil count
- GITR:
-
Glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor
- Hi-TIDe:
-
Human integrated tumor immunology discovery engine
- MEK:
-
Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase
- NIBIT:
-
“Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori” (Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy)
- BRAF:
-
Proto-oncogene B-Raf
- SLiPs:
-
Short-lived proteins
- SITC:
-
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer
- TIL:
-
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte
- TME:
-
Tumor microenvironment
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Acknowledgements
The panel was organized with support of the NIBIT Foundation. The authors wish to thank Michael Smith (IntraMed, Milan) and Iain O’Neill (Medical Writer) for providing medical writing and editorial support.
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The panel and the development of this paper were supported by the NIBIT Foundation. The contents and topics of the panel discussions and of this paper were not influenced by the sponsor.
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All authors participated in the panel discussions. MM and RI conceived the review together with key participants. The manuscript was developed from panel notes with input from MM, ML, BAF, GC, JW and RI. All authors critically contributed to the final manuscript draft and approved the final version.
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Michel Lahn was an employee of Incyte Biosciences International Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland, at the time of this panel and holds stocks of Incyte. Dominik Reuttinger is an employee of Roche Pharmaceuticals. Patrick L Garcia is an employee of Merck KGaA. Olivier Provendier is an employee of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre. Michele Maio is a consultant/advisory board member for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Incyte, Merck Sharp & Dohme Oncology, Roche, Astex Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, AstraZeneca and Merck Serono. Ramy Ibrahim is an advisory board member for Harpoon, Arcus, Immunovaccine and ImaginAB. Aiman Shalabi was a consultant at the Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY, USA, at the time of this panel. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Maio, M., Coukos, G., Ferrone, S. et al. Addressing current challenges and future directions in immuno-oncology: expert perspectives from the 2017 NIBIT Foundation Think Tank, Siena, Italy. Cancer Immunol Immunother 68, 1–9 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-018-2285-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-018-2285-y