New insight into cancer immunotherapy

A key point for maintenance of the immune system homeostasis is the balance between the capacity to recognize and fight exogenous molecules and the capacity to avoid auto reactivity. The disruption of this balance induces the progression of several immune diseases such as autoimmune diseases, allergies, infections or cancer. A promising therapeutic approach to treat these diseases is immunotherapy. In cancer, both active and passive immunotherapies have been tested with promising results, such as the blocking of immunological checkpoints like CTLA-4 and PD-1. These treatments, in the market since a few years ago, aim to redirect the patient's immunological response by inhibiting the induction of regulatory T cells, both in the priming and effector phases. This strategy sheds light on the immunological mechanisms that control the regulatory response mediated by T cells and opens new lines of research into other immunological diseases such as allergy, in which the induction of a regulatory response is necessary to avoid allergic progression and which is the main objective of allergen-specific immunotherapies available today.