Immunotherapy for synovial sarcoma

Catherine M. Albert; Seth Pollack; Catherine M. Albert; Seth Pollack

doi:10.3934/medsci.2019.3.191

AIMS Medical Science

2019, Volume 6, Issue 3: 191-200. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2019.3.191

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Review Special Issues

Immunotherapy for synovial sarcoma

Catherine M. Albert ^{1,2
,
,},
Seth Pollack ^3,4

1.
Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
2.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
3.
Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
4.
Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Received: 21 January 2019 Accepted: 14 July 2019 Published: 13 August 2019

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a relatively common subtype of soft tissue sarcoma that typically affects young adults. Nearly all tumors harbor a translocation between SS18 and SSX1/SSX2 and the vast majority express the cancer testis antigen (CTA) NY-ESO-1. While patients with small, non-metastatic tumors are often cured surgically, outcomes remain poor for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease, even when aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy are employed. Therefore, innovative systemic therapies that target the biology of the disease are needed to improve outcomes for these higher risk patients. One such category is tumor-directed immune therapies. In this review, we will discuss the current status of immunotherapy for SS, including the recent trial results, ongoing challenges, and future directions.
- sarcoma,
- synovial,
- immunotherapy,
- checkpoint inhibitors,
- NY-ESO-1,
- adoptive therapy,
- dendritic cell vaccines
Citation: Catherine M. Albert, Seth Pollack. Immunotherapy for synovial sarcoma[J]. AIMS Medical Science, 2019, 6(3): 191-200. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2019.3.191

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Abstract

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a relatively common subtype of soft tissue sarcoma that typically affects young adults. Nearly all tumors harbor a translocation between SS18 and SSX1/SSX2 and the vast majority express the cancer testis antigen (CTA) NY-ESO-1. While patients with small, non-metastatic tumors are often cured surgically, outcomes remain poor for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease, even when aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy are employed. Therefore, innovative systemic therapies that target the biology of the disease are needed to improve outcomes for these higher risk patients. One such category is tumor-directed immune therapies. In this review, we will discuss the current status of immunotherapy for SS, including the recent trial results, ongoing challenges, and future directions.

Conflict of interest

Dr. Pollack receives research funding from Merck, EMD Serono, Incyte, Presage, Janssen, Oncosec and Juno. He receives honoraria from Seattle Genetics, Bayer, Tempus, Daiichi Sankyo and Blueprint Medicine.

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