Immunotherapy of mesothelioma: the evolving change of a long-standing therapeutic dream

Luana Calabrò; Giuseppe Bronte; Federica Grosso; Luigi Cerbone; Angelo Delmonte; Fabio Nicolini; Massimiliano Mazza; Anna Maria Di Giacomo; Alessia Covre; Maria Fortunata Lofiego; Lucio Crinò; Michele Maio

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1333661

Immunotherapy of mesothelioma: the evolving change of a long-standing therapeutic dream

Front Immunol. 2024 Jan 8:14:1333661. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1333661. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Luana Calabrò^{1

2}, Giuseppe Bronte^{3

4}, Federica Grosso⁵, Luigi Cerbone⁵, Angelo Delmonte⁶, Fabio Nicolini⁷, Massimiliano Mazza⁷, Anna Maria Di Giacomo^{8

9}, Alessia Covre^{8

9

10}, Maria Fortunata Lofiego^{8

9

10}, Lucio Crinò⁶, Michele Maio^{8

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
² Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences (DISCLIMO), Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
⁴ Clinic of Laboratory and Precision Medicine, National Institute of Health and Sciences On Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), Ancona, Italy.
⁵ Mesothelioma, Melanoma and Sarcoma Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
⁶ Department of Medical Oncology, IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo Per Lo Studio Dei Tumori (IRST) "Dino Amadori", Meldola, Italy.
⁷ IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo Per Lo Studio Dei Tumori (IRST) "Dino Amadori", Meldola, Italy.
⁸ Center for Immuno-Oncology, Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Siena, Siena, Italy.
⁹ Center for Immuno-Oncology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
¹⁰ EPigenetic Immune-Oncology Consortium Airc (EPICA), Siena, Italy.
¹¹ Fondazione Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori (NIBIT) Onlus, Siena, Italy.

Abstract

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is an aggressive and rare disease, characterized by a very poor prognosis. For almost two decades, the world standard treatment regimen for unresectable PM has consisted of a platinum-based drug plus pemetrexed, leading to an overall survival of approximately 12 months. The dramatic therapeutic scenario of PM has recently changed with the entry into the clinic of immune checkpoint inhibition, which has proven to be an effective approach to improve the survival of PM patients. The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most promising immunotherapeutic-based strategies currently under investigation for advanced PM.

Keywords: adoptive cell therapy; epigenetic drugs; immune checkpoint inhibitors; immunotherapy; pleural mesothelioma.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Immunotherapy
Mesothelioma* / drug therapy
Mesothelioma, Malignant*
Pemetrexed
Pleural Neoplasms*

Substances

Pemetrexed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The work was supported by grants awarded to LCa in part from the Fondazione AIRC under 5 per Mille 2018-ID21073 program.