Abstracto

Detection, visualization, biomarkers and anti-tumor action of monoclonal antibodies in lung cancer

Dawei Hirsch

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite increasing efforts toward early detection through screening of at-risk populations, the majority of lung cancer patients are still diagnosed at an advanced stage. Lung cancer is an aggressive disease and its conventional treatments have been far from successful. There is a strong need for new and better approaches to improve survival, symptom control, and quality of life. A challenge in treating lung cancer is the lack of early diagnosis. New options in targeted therapy and immunotherapy are shifting lung cancer treatment towards a more individualized therapeutic approach that has a profound impact on the clinical course and outcome of the disease. We focused on known mechanisms of action, current clinical applications in cancer therapy, and resistance mechanisms to monoclonal antibody therapy. We describe how monoclonal antibody-based strategies have evolved and some of the current combination therapies to enhance anti-tumor immune responses by targeting immune cells instead of tumor antigens.