TY - JOUR AB - Oesophageal cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with limited treatment options, thus resulting in a high morbidity and mortality. With 5‑year survival rates of only 5‑10%, oesophageal cancer holds a dismal prognosis for patients. In order to improve overall survival, the early diagnosis and tools for patient stratification for personalized treatment are urgent needs. A minority of oesophageal cancers belong to the spectrum of Lynch syndrome‑associated cancers and are characterized by microsatellite instability (MSI). Microsatellite instability is a consequence of defective mismatch repair protein functions and it has been well characterized in other gastrointestinal tumours, such as colorectal and gastric cancer. In the latter, high levels of MSI are associated with a better prognosis and with an increased benefit to immune‑based therapies. Therefore, similar therapeutic approaches could offer an opportunity of treatment for oesophageal cancer patients with MSI. Apart from immune checkpoint inhibitors, other immunotherapies such as adoptive T‑cell transfer, peptide vaccine and oncolytic viruses are under investigation in oesophageal cancer patients. In the present review, the rationale and current knowledge about immunotherapies in oesophageal cancer are summarised. AD - Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton SM25NG, UK Division of Medical Oncology, Hospital Policlinic ‘Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore’, I-20122 Milan, Italy Clinic of Gastroenterology, Medical University, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria Pathology Länggasse, 3063 Bern, Switzerland AU - Lampis,Andrea AU - Ratti,Margherita AU - Ghidini,Michele AU - Mirchev,Milko,B. AU - Okuducu,Ali,Fuat AU - Valeri,Nicola AU - Hahne,Jens,Claus DA - 2021/06/01 DO - 10.3892/ijmm.2021.4930 IS - 6 JO - Int J Mol Med KW - immunotherapy oesophageal cancer immune checkpoint inhibitors adoptive T‑cell therapy peptide vaccine oncolytic viruses PY - 2021 SN - 1107-3756 1791-244X SP - 97 ST - Challenges and perspectives for immunotherapy in oesophageal cancer: A look to the future (Review) T2 - International Journal of Molecular Medicine TI - Challenges and perspectives for immunotherapy in oesophageal cancer: A look to the future (Review) UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2021.4930 VL - 47 ER -