Dr. Hashmi on Immunotherapy in Prostate Cancer

Mehmood Hashmi, MD, assistant professor of medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, discusses the use of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.

As in many other cancers, immunotherapy is another available pillar of treatment, says Hashmi. Prostate cancer is a very immunogenic disease, and neoantigens are produced that can be targeted. Single-agent immunotherapy has induced response rates of approximately 10%. Combination therapies are now being explored in an attempt to further enhance response rates. Some of these strategies include dual immunotherapeutic approaches as well as immunotherapy in combination with androgen suppression, explains Hashmi.

In addition to developing synergistic combinations, Hashmi notes that physicians have to identify specific genes through genomic-based testing to further personalize treatments. Even with these advances, immunotherapy will be restricted to certain subsets of patients, states Hashmi.