Immunotherapy in Patients with mCRC

Immunotherapy is a new treatment modality with exceptionally promising results in a broad span of different malignancies. The quest for a successful approach to use an activated immune system to kill tumour cells has been going on for the last five decades. The initial approaches using interferons were never successful. However, the first glimpses of success appeared with the use of interleukin-2 to activate the immune system in melanoma patients [1]. Interleukin-2 is a T-cell stimulator, activating first of all natural killer (NK) cells. Turning on the immune system will also lead to a biological attempt to avoid overactivation, which potentially will harm normal organs. Cancer cells also take advantage of these efforts, and they develop immune escape mechanisms. This takes place at immune checkpoints induced through the T-cell activation. James Allison was the pioneer in mapping the molecular mechanisms of T-cell antigen recognition, regulation and function, a work for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2018.