Editorial: HIV and Cancer Immunotherapy: Similar Challenges and Converging Approaches

• Authors: Mirko Paiardini, Emory University; Kavita Dhodapkar, Emory University; Justin Harper, Emory University; Steven G. Deeks, University of California San Francisco; Rafi Ahmed, Emory University
• Journal Title: Frontiers in Immunology
• Volume: Volume 11
• Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A. | 2020-03-31, Pages 519-519
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00519
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Cell; Biology, Microbiology
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Immunology; HIV; cancer; ART; immunotherapy; immune surveillance; immune checkpoint blockade; inflammation; CAR T cells; CD4(+) T-cells; Antiretroviral therapy; Reservoir; Expression; Replication; Persistence; Dynamics; Survival; Disease; Driven

Abstract

Although modern anti-retroviral therapy (ART) permits near-normal life expectancies by suppressing viral replication to clinically undetectable levels in people living with HIV (PLWH) (1), sustained treatment is complicated by complex pharmacological (i.e., adverse events, adherence, resistance) and societal issues (i.e., stigma, cost burden, medical access). Furthermore, ART is incapable of eliminating the latent viral reservoir, which is responsible for recrudescence when therapy is interrupted (2–5). Viral persistence is facilitated by a variety of mechanisms such as the exhaustion of HIV-specific cytolytic T-cells (CTLs) driven by chronic inflammation (6–8); epigenetic modifications to dampen the expression of viral proteins allowing evasion of immunosurveillance (9, 10); the localization of infected cells within immune privileged anatomical sites (11–13); and the survival of long-lived, virus-harboring cells allowing reservoir expansion via homeostatic proliferation (14, 15).