What is the role for adjuvant monoclonal antibody therapy with radiation for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma?

There are several publications showing a small synergy when combining RT with immunotherapies—thought to be effective largely by the induction of a pro-inflammatory response.

There are actually several different aspects to note for use of mAbs in the brain. The biggest argument you'll hear is likely that mAbs are too big to cross the BBB, so why even bother? But, if we are talking about immunotherapeutic mAbs, then they possibly don’t need to cross the BBB at all, but rather have direct effects on peripheral T cells that home to the tumor site, etc. (Duane proved that with his paper using checkpoint blockade in MBL models.)

The next thing to consider is what type of mAb you're dealing with:
- immune checkpoint blockade agents may alter the eff...