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Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

  • Genitourinary Cancers (DP Petrylak and JW Kim, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Immunotherapy is rapidly transforming cancer care across a range of tumor types. Although Sipuleucel-T represented the first successful vaccine for the treatment of established cancer, other immunotherapeutic approaches for prostate cancer such as checkpoint inhibitors have been relatively disappointing to date. However, significant promise is on the horizon as there is a wide array trials evaluating immunotherapy in prostate cancer patients. These include both immune checkpoint inhibitors and antigen-specific approaches including vaccines, antibody-drug conjugates, and antitumor antibodies. Furthermore, a better understanding of the key mechanisms that promote the immunosuppressive microenvironment of prostate cancer is emerging. These insights may eventually make it possible to determine which patients will benefit from immunotherapy. This review will discuss the successes and failures of immunotherapy in prostate cancer. We will also present key lessons learned from completed trials and highlight important ongoing studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, Mezzanine, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Michael C. Comiskey

  2. Division of Hematology/Oncology, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, 177 Fort Washington Avenue, 6GN-435, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Matthew C. Dallos & Charles G. Drake

  3. Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Charles G. Drake

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  1. Michael C. Comiskey
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  2. Matthew C. Dallos
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Correspondence to Charles G. Drake.

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Conflict of Interest

Michael C. Comiskey declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Matthew C. Dallos declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Charles G. Drake has received research support through grants from Janssen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Aduro Biotech; has compensation from Agenus, Dendreon, ImmunExcite, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Pierre Fabre, and Roche/Genentech for service as a consultant; is a stockholder of Compugen, Potenza, Tizona, and Kleo; and has patents licensed to Janssen, AZ Immune, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Genitourinary Cancers

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Comiskey, M.C., Dallos, M.C. & Drake, C.G. Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks. Curr Oncol Rep 20, 75 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-018-0712-z

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