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The role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with intracranial metastatic disease

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A Correction to this article was published on 22 February 2023

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Abstract

Intracranial metastatic disease (IMD) complicates the course of nearly 2–4% of patients with systemic cancer. The prevalence of IMD has been increasing over the past few decades. Historically, definitive treatment for brain metastases (BM) has been limited to radiation therapy or surgical resection. Chemotherapies have not typically proven valuable in the treatment of IMD, with the exception of highly chemotherapy-sensitive lesions. Recent data have supported a role for systemic targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of select patients with IMD. There remains, however, a clear clinical need for further investigation to delineate the role of ICIs in patients with BM. In this review, we outline and describe recent and current efforts to identify the efficacy of ICI therapy in patients with IMD.

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Author notes

  1. Zeel Patel and Matthew Cho have equally contributed to the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Temerty School of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Zeel Patel & Matthew Cho

  2. Institute for Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Zeel Patel, Matthew Cho & Sunit Das

  3. Division of Neurosurgery, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada

    Sunit Das

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  1. Zeel Patel
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ZP and MC wrote the main manuscript text and prepared the figures and tables. SD conceived the project and edited the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sunit Das.

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Conflict of interest

S.D. serves as the Provincial Lead for CNS Oncology at Ontario Health, Cancer Care Ontario. S.D. is on the advisory board (unpaid) of the Subcortical Surgery Group and Xpan Medical. S.D. receives laboratory support from Alkermes.

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Patel, Z., Cho, M. & Das, S. The role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with intracranial metastatic disease. J Neurooncol 161, 469–478 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-023-04263-0

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