In the early 1900s, German chemist Paul Ehrlich began creating drugs for infectious diseases and introduced the term "chemotherapy" for using chemicals to treat illnesses.
[4] Successes in treating acute childhood leukemia and advanced Hodgkin's disease led to increased screening for anti-tumor chemicals.
He discovered that CTLA-4 inhibits T cells from fully attacking, and hypothesized that blocking CTLA-4 could unleash the immune system to fight cancer.
However, research shows that certain chemotherapy drugs can, under specific conditions, boost the immune response against tumors and enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
Integrating immune-based therapies with chemotherapy has the potential to alter the body's overall environment and the local tumor microenvironment, disrupting immune tolerance and suppression pathways.
For diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the standard treatment includes cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP).
Adding rituximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the CD20 B-cell antigen, to the CHOP regimen has been shown to improve complete-response rates and extend event-free and overall survival in elderly patients without significantly increasing toxicity.