Immunotherapy of lung cancer

Review of the literature on immunotherapies in lung cancer provides hope that an impact on the natural history of this disease can be achieved. Although the various trials of adjuvant nonspecific immunostimulation with BCG, levamisole, and C parvum are not sufficiently detailed to permit meta-analysis, in aggregate the data suggest a slight improvement in disease-free survival for treated patients. Perhaps these adjuvants combined with more immunogenic TAAs could be formulated into a vaccine that would be effective in preventing recurrence of lung cancer after surgical excision. Ongoing research in molecular technology may provide adequate quantities of such products so that this hypothesis can be tested in appropriate patient populations.