Immunotherapy has completely changed the way doctors treat lung cancer, which is a very aggressive solid tumor. It can lead to long-lasting remissions by using the body’s own defenses. There are two different types of immune-based solid tumor therapy: immune checkpoint inhibitors and therapeutic cancer vaccines. These two types work on completely different scientific principles and offer different ways to fight the disease.
GoBroad Healthcare Group is known for its dedication to integrated diagnostics and cutting-edge clinical research in solid tumor malignancies. The company actively uses and improves both methods. To fully understand how these two strategies could work together to make the next generation of immunotherapy for lung cancer, you need to know the science behind them.
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs)—Releasing the Brakes
Checkpoint inhibitors are the most well-known type of immunotherapy for lung cancer. They have worked very well in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at all stages of the disease, from metastatic to neoadjuvant (pre-surgical) settings.
How it works: stopping the “Off” switch
Cancer cells are good at getting around the immune system, and they often do this by taking advantage of natural “checkpoint” systems that stop the immune system from attacking healthy cells (autoimmunity). The PD-1/PD-L1 axis is the most important pathway:
The Cancer’s Defense: The PD-L1 protein is found on the surface of many solid tumor cells, especially those in lung cancer. When PD-L1 binds to the PD-1 receptor on T cells (the immune system’s main killer cells), it sends a signal to turn off the immune system, which stops the attack on tumors.
What the drug does: Monoclonal antibodies like pembrolizumab, nivolumab, or atezolizumab are checkpoint inhibitors that protect cells. They stop this binding interaction by either covering the PD-1 receptor on the T cell or the PD-L1 ligand on the solid tumor cell. ICIs “release the brakes,” which lets T cells go free and attack cancer cells aggressively.
ICIs work very well for lung cancer, especially for tumors that have a lot of PD-L1 expression or a lot of mutations (TMB). The effectiveness is determined by the longevity of the response, frequently resulting in enduring disease control that is uncommon with standard chemotherapy. GoBroad Healthcare Group uses these drugs a lot, usually with anti-CTLA-4 inhibitors or chemotherapy to boost the body’s ability to fight tumors in hard-to-treat solid tumors.
Cancer vaccines that work as medicine—putting the pedal to the metal
Therapeutic cancer vaccines do not release the brakes like ICIs do. Instead, they work by actively stimulating the immune system to find and kill the cancer. Cancer vaccines are still being studied a lot, but many people see them as a way to “turn a cold tumor into a hot one.”
Mechanism: Preparing the Immune System
The goal of a cancer vaccine is to show the patient’s immune system specific tumor antigens, which are proteins that are either unique to the cancer cell (neoantigens) or are very overexpressed on the cancer cell (Tumor-Associated Antigens, or TAAs).
Antigen Presentation: The vaccine platform (which can be based on protein, peptide, DNA, or mRNA) brings in the antigen. Antigen-Presenting Cells (APCs), especially dendritic cells, take in this antigen and show it off on their surface.
Activation of T cells: After that, the APCs move to the lymph nodes, where they “prime” new, naive T cells, teaching them to find and kill any cell in the body that has that antigen. This makes a lot of tumor-specific T cells that are ready to invade the solid tumor.
Therapeutic vaccines are given to people who already have cancer, while preventive vaccines (like HPV) are given to people who don’t have cancer. Vaccines have historically demonstrated limited clinical efficacy as a monotherapy for established solid tumors such as lung cancer. But the real promise is in how well they work with checkpoint inhibitors.
Researchers want to get better response rates and overcome resistance in patients who don’t respond to ICI monotherapy by combining vaccines (which make T cells) with ICIs (which let those T cells work in the tumor microenvironment). GoBroad Healthcare Group is working on clinical trials that look into these kinds of advanced combinations. The goal is to make immunotherapy for lung cancer more personalized based on the patient’s unique neoantigen profile.
The Integrated Strategy of GoBroad Healthcare Group
The most progress in immunotherapy for lung cancer comes from carefully combining different types of treatments based on a person’s immune and genomic profile. GoBroad Healthcare Group is great at this kind of integrated approach:
Choosing Biomarkers: The Group uses advanced molecular diagnostics to look at important biomarkers like PD-L1, TMB, and MSI. This tells us which patient is most likely to get the most out of an ICI-based regimen first.
Combination Therapy: For many patients with solid tumors, especially those with advanced lung cancer, the standard of care now involves combining immunotherapy (ICI) with chemotherapy or targeted therapy. This strategy often leads to better results than using either drug class alone.
Future Innovations: GoBroad Healthcare Group is still working on next-generation immunotherapy for lung cancer, going beyond current standards. This includes tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy and new cellular products (like CAR-T for solid tumor targets) that aim to boost the patient’s immune system’s ability to fight tumors even more. This pushes the limits of what is possible in solid tumor care.
