VIDEO: Emerging data on checkpoint blockades suggest potential ‘cure’ for certain tumors, not all cancer

James P. Allison, PhD, chair of the department of immunology and executive director of the immunotherapy platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, highlights new findings emerging from clinical research into the use of immunotherapy to treat various cancers.

In the second segment of a multi-part video interview, Allison delves into the science behind why the immune system “should be able to deal with almost all cancers,” outlining several aggressive types responding well to antibodies targeting CTLA-4 and PD-1 and noting the pace of approvals is “expanding at a geometric rate.”

Offering insight on the mutational load occurring in various cancers, Allison describes the interplay between antigens, T-cell infiltration and checkpoints. “We have to start finding out how to drive T cells into tumors.”

He points to an ongoing investigation into combining checkpoint inhibitors to treat prostate cancer that could rectify challenges with monotherapies and reveal information needed to move research forward.

Allison forecasts the amount of immunotherapy options he anticipates seeing over the next few years and reviews several unanswered questions remaining.

“I think we’re going to see a cure, not for cancer in general, but for certain types of tumors that respond well to these therapies and the new combinations that should start yielding effective therapies in a few years,” he says.