Kick-starting the immune response – the shifting landscape of immuno-oncology

The landscape of cancer treatment has changed dramatically in the last seven years, beginning with the approval of Ipilmumab in 2011, the first immunotherapy drug. Efforts to unsheathe the tumour cells of their protective microenvironment and expose them to an active immune response have delivered several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are now in the clinic. Eleven new immunotherapies have since been approved and are fast becoming a standard route of treatment for many patients.