The 142nd Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (Nagoya)

Organizer: Takashi Nakamura (Fac. Pharm. Sci., Hokkaido Univ.), Sae Inoue (Nagase Medicals Co., Ltd)

The success of immune checkpoint therapy has revolutionized the field of cancer therapy and immunotherapy and is now an impregnable pillar in the field of therapeutics. However, positive responses are observed only in a minority of patients and tumor types, and several resistance mechanisms have been identified. The emerging focus in this area is on improving the response rate and overcoming resistance. To address this, combination therapies are currently being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials. Nanotechnology-based drug-delivery systems (nano DDS) are an important contribution to this area and to the future development of effective combination therapies via maximizing immune functional molecules and controlling the complicated antitumor immune responses. In this symposium, we focus on the role of nano DDS in cancer immunotherapy and the use of nano DDS technology in next-generation cancer immunotherapy. In addition, we introduce cancer immunotherapy, especially antibody drugs, in terms of regulatory issues. This symposium provides an opportunity to discuss cancer immunotherapy development based on nano-DDS, ranging from the basics to clinical applications.