Synergizing immunotherapy with molecularly targeted anticancer treatment

Abstract

The therapeutic opportunity for anticancer kinase inhibitors (KIs) that block cell-signaling pathways is materializing. Yet, these molecular-targeted therapies are not tailored to be allies of the immune system, and often antagonize it despite generating antigenic activity. KIs usually offer an incomplete cure and one culprit is the lack of synergy between the drug and the immune system, a problem that is magnified when the therapeutic context involves HIV-1-induced immunosuppression (AIDS). We outline a strategy to fulfill the therapeutic imperative of recruiting cooperative immune responses. Accordingly, we propose a method to redesign anticancer drugs to harness the antigenic products of drug-induced apoptosis of tumor cells, thus eliciting an adjuvant immune response.