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Immunomodulation and Immunotherapy for Gastric Cancer

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Gastric Cancer In The Precision Medicine Era

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Pathology ((CCPATH))

Abstract

Over the last decade, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying immune modulation has greatly improved, allowing for the development of multiple therapeutic approaches that are revolutionizing the treatment of cancer. Immunotherapy for gastric cancer (GC) is still in early phases but is rapidly evolving. The most significative clinical result is the efficacy of immunotherapies targeting distinct subtypes of GC: the subset showing high microsatellite instability (MSI-high) and the GC associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection. These successes are mainly due to drugs inhibiting negative regulatory immune checkpoints such as PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4. The clinical benefit and improved survival observed in responding patients highlighted the importance to take in consideration the tumor microenvironment and the complex and dynamic interaction between immune cells and tumor cells as fundamental necessity to rationally design novel immunotherapeutic approaches. In this review, we will highlight the immunologic characteristics of different GC subsets, with particular focus on the tumor microenvironment, as a potential basis to improve tailoring of (immune) therapies. We will also review the state of the art of the various strategies of immunotherapy and immunomodulation investigated in the preclinical and clinical settings of GC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Immunopathology and Biomarker Unit/Bio-proteomics Facility, Department of Research and Advanced Tumor Diagnostics, IRCCS, CRO Aviano, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, PN, Italy

    Riccardo Dolcetti

  2. Translational Research Institute, University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Riccardo Dolcetti

  3. Immunopathology and Tumor Biomarkers Unit/Bio-proteomics Facility, Department of Research and Advanced Tumor Diagnostics, IRCCS, CRO Aviano, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, PN, Italy

    Valli De Re

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  1. Riccardo Dolcetti
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  1. Pathology Unit and Biobank, CRO-Aviano, IRCCS, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy

    Vincenzo Canzonieri

  2. Sbarro Institute for Cancer, Research and Molecular Medicine, Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Antonio Giordano

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Dolcetti, R., De Re, V. (2019). Immunomodulation and Immunotherapy for Gastric Cancer. In: Canzonieri, V., Giordano, A. (eds) Gastric Cancer In The Precision Medicine Era. Current Clinical Pathology. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04861-7_12

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