Clinical Effects of Immuno-Oncology Therapy on Glioblastoma Patients: A Systematic Review

Brain Sci. 2023 Jan 17;13(2):159. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13020159.

Abstract

The most prevalent and deadly primary malignant glioma in adults is glioblastoma (GBM), which has a median survival time of about 15 months. Despite the standard of care for glioblastoma, which includes gross total resection, high-dose radiation, and temozolomide chemotherapy, this tumor is still one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat. So, it is critical to find more potent therapies that can help glioblastoma patients have better clinical outcomes. Additionally, the prognosis for recurring malignant gliomas is poor, necessitating the need for innovative therapeutics. Immunotherapy is a rather new treatment for glioblastoma and its effects are not well studied when it is combined with standard chemoradiation therapy. We conducted this study to evaluate different glioblastoma immunotherapy approaches in terms of feasibility, efficacy, and safety. We conducted a computer-assisted literature search of electronic databases for essays that are unique, involve either prospective or retrospective research, and are entirely written and published in English. We examined both observational data and randomized clinical trials. Eighteen studies met the criteria for inclusion. In conclusion, combining immunotherapy with radiochemotherapy and tumor removal is generally possible and safe, and rather effective in the prolongation of survival measures.

Keywords: GBM; cell therapy; cell-based therapy; check-point inhibitor; chemotherapy; glioblastoma; immuno-oncologic therapy; immunotherapy; oncolytic viral therapy; radiotherapy; temozolomide; vaccination; vaccine.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This study was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health—Ricerca Corrente, Annual Program 2023.