Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 23, 2025
Generation of CAR T Cells for Adoptive Therapy in the Context of Glioblastoma Standard of Care
Published on: February 16, 2015
Immunotherapy for Meningiomas
Hans-Georg Wirsching1, Michael Weller2
1Department of Neurology, University Hospital and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Systemic treatment approaches are urgently needed for a subset of meningioma patients who do not achieve local tumor control with surgery and radiotherapy. Classical chemotherapy or anti-angiogenic agents exert only very limited activity in these tumors. Long-term survival of patients with advanced metastatic cancer following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, i.e., monoclonal antibodies designed to unleash suppressed anticancer immune responses, has fostered hopes for benefit from similar approaches in patients with meningiomas that recur after standard local therapy. Moreover, a plethora of immunotherapy approaches beyond these drugs have entered clinical development or clinical practice for other cancer entities, including (i) novel immune checkpoint inhibitors that may act independently of T cell activity, (ii) cancer peptide or dendritic cell vaccines to induce anticancer immunity utilizing cancer-associated antigens, (iii) cellular therapies utilizing genetically modified peripheral blood cells to directly target cancer cells, (iv) T cell engaging recombinant proteins that link tumor antigen-binding sites to effector cell activating or recognition domains, or to immunogenic cytokines, and (v) oncolytic virotherapy utilizing attenuated viral vectors designed to specifically infect cancer cells, seeking to elicit systemic anticancer immunity. This chapter provides an overview of the principles of immunotherapy, summarizes ongoing immunotherapy clinical trials in meningioma patients, and discusses the applicability of established and emerging immunotherapy concepts to meningioma patients.
Insights
Systemic immunotherapy offers new hope for meningioma patients resistant to standard treatments. Emerging strategies like immune checkpoint inhibitors and cancer vaccines show promise for controlling recurrent or advanced meningiomas.
Area of Science:
- Neuro-oncology
- Immunology
- Cancer Therapy
Background:
- Meningiomas are primary brain tumors where local treatments like surgery and radiotherapy are insufficient for some patients.
- Current systemic therapies, including chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic agents, have limited efficacy in advanced or recurrent meningiomas.
- The success of immune checkpoint inhibitors in other advanced cancers suggests potential for immunotherapy in meningioma treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the principles of cancer immunotherapy.
- To summarize current clinical trials involving immunotherapy for meningioma patients.
- To discuss the potential application of established and novel immunotherapeutic strategies for meningioma.
Main Methods:
- Review of scientific literature on cancer immunotherapy principles.
- Analysis of ongoing clinical trials for immunotherapy in meningioma.
- Discussion of various immunotherapy modalities including immune checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, cellular therapies, T cell engagers, and oncolytic virotherapy.
Main Results:
- Classical chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic therapies show minimal activity in meningiomas.
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated long-term survival benefits in other metastatic cancers.
- A wide range of immunotherapy approaches are under investigation or in clinical use for various cancers.
Conclusions:
- Systemic immunotherapy represents a promising avenue for meningioma patients unresponsive to local therapies.
- Various immunotherapy strategies, including novel immune checkpoint inhibitors and therapeutic vaccines, are being explored for meningioma.
- Further research and clinical trials are needed to establish the efficacy and applicability of these immunotherapy approaches in meningioma management.
