Intratumoral and Oncoviral Immunotherapy

Abstract

AbstractImmunotherapy is a paradigm-shifting advance in cancer care, but despite their success, contemporary immunotherapy strategies are limited by several factors. The objective response rates to checkpoint inhibitor therapy remain below 50%, and the toxicities associated with systemically administered immunotherapies, particularly combination immunotherapy regimens, can be devastating. Intratumoral immunotherapies represent a burgeoning paradigm in immuno-oncology designed to address these limitations. The direct delivery of intratumoral immunotherapies can result in concentrations of the therapeutic agent at levels that would likely be far too toxic if administered systemically. In this review, I summarize the sound biological framework underlying intratumoral immunotherapies as well as provide an overview of the major categories of intratumoral agents currently under investigation. I also emphasize the components of this treatment strategy that are relevant for image-guided interventionalists based on existing clinical experience.