Esophageal cancer future or investigational therapies

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Hadeel Maksoud M.D.[2]

Future Therapies

Advances in the treatment of esophageal cancer are focused on:^[1]
- Fusion FDG- PET scanning for accurate staging
- Immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitor such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda) that targets the programmed cell death – 1 (PD-1) receptor on the lymphocytes.
Recent developments include the analyzation of NY-ESO-1 cancer-testis (CT) antigen expression in esophageal cancer.^[2]
- The high expression frequency of NY-ESO-1 in esophageal cancer could mean the development of a vaccine.

References

↑ Wolchok JD, Hoos A, O’Day S, Weber JS, Hamid O, Lebbé C, Maio M, Binder M, Bohnsack O, Nichol G, Humphrey R, Hodi FS (2009). “Guidelines for the evaluation of immune therapy activity in solid tumors: immune-related response criteria”. Clin. Cancer Res. 15 (23): 7412–20. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-1624. PMID 19934295.
↑ Fourcade J, Sun Z, Pagliano O, Guillaume P, Luescher IF, Sander C, Kirkwood JM, Olive D, Kuchroo V, Zarour HM (2012). “CD8(+) T cells specific for tumor antigens can be rendered dysfunctional by the tumor microenvironment through upregulation of the inhibitory receptors BTLA and PD-1”. Cancer Res. 72 (4): 887–96. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-2637. PMC 3288235. PMID 22205715.

Future Therapies