Shoji Y, Koyanagi K, Kanamori K, Tajima K, Ogimi M, Ninomiya Y, Yamamoto M, Kazuno A, Nabeshima K, Nishi T, Mori M. Immunotherapy for esophageal cancer: Where are we now and where can we go. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(19): 2496-2501 [PMID: 38817664 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i19.2496]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kazuo Koyanagi, MD, PhD, FACS, Professor, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan. kkoyanagi@tsc.u-tokai.ac.jp
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Yoshiaki Shoji, Kazuo Koyanagi, Kohei Kanamori, Kohei Tajima, Mika Ogimi, Yamato Ninomiya, Miho Yamamoto, Akihito Kazuno, Kazuhito Nabeshima, Takayuki Nishi, Masaki Mori, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan
Author contributions: Shoji Y performed the conceptualization, data analysis, and manuscript writing; Koyanagi K performed the conceptualization; Kanamori K, Tajima K, Ogimi M, Ninomiya Y, Yamamoto M, Kazuno A, Nabeshima K, Nishi T, and Mori M performed the revision of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kazuo Koyanagi, MD, PhD, FACS, Professor, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan. kkoyanagi@tsc.u-tokai.ac.jp
Received: January 17, 2024 Revised: April 11, 2024 Accepted: April 22, 2024 Published online: May 21, 2024
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has dramatically improved patient prognosis, and thereby transformed the treatment in various cancer types including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the past decade. Monoclonal antibodies that selectively inhibit programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) activity has now become standard of care in the treatment of ESCC in metastatic settings, and has a high expectation to provide clinical benefit during perioperative period. Further, anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) monoclonal antibody has also been approved in the treatment of recurrent/metastatic ESCC in combination with anti-PD-1 antibody. Well understanding of the existing evidence of immune-based treatments for ESCC, as well as recent clinical trials on various combinations with chemotherapy for different clinical settings including neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic diseases, may provide future prospects of ESCC treatment for better patient outcomes.
Core Tip: Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy alone or in combination with other cytotoxic agents has now become standard of care in the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in metastatic and adjuvant settings, and has a high expectation to provide clinical benefit during perioperative period. In this editorial, we will discuss the existing evidence of immune-based treatments for ESCC, as well as recent clinical trials on various combinations with chemotherapy for different clinical settings including neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic diseases, which may provide future prospects of ESCC treatment for better patient outcomes.
