It is now clear that the immune system plays a critical role not only during
oncogenesis and
tumor progression, but also as established neoplastic lesions respond to
therapy. Selected cytotoxic chemicals can indeed elicit immunogenic cell death, a functionally peculiar type of apoptosis that stimulates
tumor-specific cognate immune responses. Such immunogenic chemotherapeutics include
cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin and
oxaliplatin (which are approved by FDA for the treatment of various hematological and solid
malignancies),
mitoxantrone (which is currently employed both as an
anticancer agent and against
multiple sclerosis) and
patupilone (a microtubular
poison in clinical development). One year ago, in the second issue of OncoImmunology, we discussed the scientific rationale behind immunogenic
chemotherapy and reviewed the status of recent clinical trials investigating the
off-label use of
cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin,
oxaliplatin and
mitoxantrone in
cancer patients. Here, we summarize the latest developments in this area of clinical research, covering both high-impact studies that have been published during the last 13 months and clinical trials that have been initiated in the same period to assess the
antineoplastic profile of immunogenic chemotherapeutics.