Immunotherapy and Response Assessment in Malignant Glioma: Neuro-oncology Perspective.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the deadliest form of brain cancer and recurs uniformly. Despite aggressive treatment with maximal safe surgical resection, adjuvant radiation with temozolomide chemotherapy, and alternating electrical field therapy, median survival for newly diagnosed GBM remains <2 years. Novel therapies are desperately needed. Immunotherapy, which has led to significant improvement in patient outcomes across many tumor types, is currently being studied in a large number of GBM clinical trials. One of the biggest challenges in immunotherapy trials in GBM has been accurate response assessment using currently available imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging. In this review, we will discuss the rationale for immunotherapy for GBM, immunotherapeutic modalities currently under clinical evaluation in GBM, and the challenges and recent advances in imaging response assessment in GBM immunotherapy.