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. 2019 Jan;68(1):1-9.
doi: 10.1007/s00262-018-2285-y. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Addressing current challenges and future directions in immuno-oncology: expert perspectives from the 2017 NIBIT Foundation Think Tank, Siena, Italy

Michele Maio  1   2 , George Coukos  3   4 , Soldano Ferrone  5 , Bernard A Fox  6 , Wolf H Fridman  7 , Patrick L Garcia  8   9 , Michael Lahn  10 , Olivier Provendier  11 , Vincenzo Russo  12   13 , Dominik Rüttinger  14 , Aiman Shalabi  15 , Zlatko Trajanoski  16 , Jean Viallet  17 , Jedd D Wolchok  18   19 , Ramy Ibrahim  20
Affiliations

Addressing current challenges and future directions in immuno-oncology: expert perspectives from the 2017 NIBIT Foundation Think Tank, Siena, Italy

Michele Maio et al. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

A collaborative think tank involving panellists from immuno-oncology networks, clinical/translational investigators and the pharmaceutical industry was held in Siena, Italy, in October 2017 to discuss the evolving immune-oncology landscape, identify selected key challenges, and provide a perspective on the next steps required in the translation of current research and knowledge to clinical reality. While there is a trend of combining new agents (e.g., co-stimulator agonists) with a PD-1/PD-L1 treatment backbone, use of alternative combination therapy approaches should also be considered. While the rapid evolution in systems biology provides a deeper understanding of tumor and tumor microenvironment heterogeneity, there remains the need to identify and define genuinely predictive biomarkers to guide treatment and patient selection. Cross-specialty and cross-sector collaboration, along with a broader collective data-sharing approach are key to optimizing immuno-oncology therapy in clinical practice. Continued support of younger research-clinicians is essential for future success in clinical, translational and basic science investigations.

Keywords: Biomarkers; CTLA-4; Immunotherapy; OX-40; PD-1; PD-L1.

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Conflict of interest statement

Michel Lahn was an employee of Incyte Biosciences International Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland, at the time of this panel and holds stocks of Incyte. Dominik Reuttinger is an employee of Roche Pharmaceuticals. Patrick L Garcia is an employee of Merck KGaA. Olivier Provendier is an employee of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre. Michele Maio is a consultant/advisory board member for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Incyte, Merck Sharp & Dohme Oncology, Roche, Astex Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, AstraZeneca and Merck Serono. Ramy Ibrahim is an advisory board member for Harpoon, Arcus, Immunovaccine and ImaginAB. Aiman Shalabi was a consultant at the Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY, USA, at the time of this panel. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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