Special Review: The future of Immunotherapy

During the last two decades, two main schools of modern immunotherapy have come to the forefront. The chimeric anti-CD20 antibody rituximab that was introduced for the treatment of refractory follicular lymphoma in 1998 was one of the first examples of the school of passive immunotherapy. Subsequently major and ever more costly efforts were spent on the development of blockbuster monotherapies including other monoclonal but also bispecific antibodies of highly defined specificity and subclass, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), as well as ex vivo expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-transduced T cells, and TCR-transduced T cells. On the other hand, there is the school that works toward active induction of patient B- or T-cell immunity against antigens of choice, or active tolerance against pathogenic allergens, auto-antigens or allo-antigens. Stradled in between these two approaches is treatment with blockers of T cell checkpoint control, which releases the brakes of T cells that have already responded to antigen. Extensive and detailed insight into the cellular and molecular interactions that regulate specific immune responses is indispensable in order to be able to optimize efficacy and rule out treatment related toxicity. This applies to all types of immunotherapy. Our knowledge of the checks and balances in the immune system is still increasing at an unprecedented pace, fostering ever more effective and specific (combination) immunotherapies and offering a rich harvest of innovative immunotherapies in the years ahead.