Cancer Immunotherapy: Global Trends, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract

This article examines the worldwide advancement of cancer immunotherapy, highlighting current innovations, clinical uses, and regional inequalities in access and outcomes. Immunotherapy has profoundly transformed cancer treatment by augmenting the body's immunological response to tumours. In the last ten years, immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapies, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have shown considerable effectiveness in treating cancers previously deemed challenging, including advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and specific haematologic malignancies. Notwithstanding significant advancements in high-income nations, the implementation of immunotherapy in low- and middle-income areas is constrained by exorbitant prices, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient incorporation into national cancer treatment guidelines. The review synthesises insights from international literature published between 2020 and 2024 and contextualises these findings with localised perspectives from the Republican Specialised Scientific and Practical Medical Centre of Oncology and Radiology in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The disparity in access and clinical application among countries underscores the pressing necessity for legislative reform, education, and resource mobilisation. This narrative review methodically synthesises recent clinical trials, observational research, and health policy reports to examine the many hurdles to fair access to immunotherapy. The research examines prospective avenues, encompassing the function of predictive biomarkers, combinatorial immunotherapies, and methodologies to enhance treatment accessibility in under-resourced healthcare systems. Ultimately, closing the global disparity in immunotherapy access is crucial for enhancing cancer outcomes and guaranteeing that lifesaving technologies are available to patients in all countries, including Central Asia.