Immunotherapy for Cholangiocarcinoma: a 2021 Update

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare malignancy with generally dismal prognosis. Immunotherapy has revolutionized the management of cancer patients during the last decade, offering durable responses with an acceptable safety profile, but there are still no significant advances regarding CCA. Novel immunotherapeutic methods, such as cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, adoptive cell therapy and combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors with other agents are currently under investigation and may improve prognosis. Efforts to find robust biomarkers for response are also ongoing. In this review, we discuss the rationale for the use of immunotherapy in CCA and available clinical data. Ongoing trials will also be presented, as well as key findings from each study.

Keywords::

• adoptive cell therapy
• cancer vaccines
• checkpoint inhibitors
• cholangiocarcinoma
• immunotherapy
• oncolytic viruses

Author contributions

N Charalampakis, G Papageorgiou and S Tsakatikas wrote the article. R Fioretzaki, C Kole and M Tolia collected and interpreted the data. D Schizas and S Kykalos supervised the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants, or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.