Immunotherapy for brain tumors remains elusive, unlike many other cancer types for which it is one of the most promising therapeutic options. Recent studies have comprehensively profiled the immune-landscape of the highly malignant brain tumor, glioblastoma (GBM) in patients and identified novel immune-modulatory targets. However, given that pre-clinical exploration of potential novel therapeutics is primarily performed in immune-competent mice, it is vital to compare the immune-profiling data obtained from syngeneic mouse GBM models with GBM patient samples. This will pave the way for utilizing appropriate clinically relevant mouse GBM models for evaluating novel immune-therapies in pre-clinical settings. Recent brain tumor immune-profiling studies using state-of-the-art time of flight cytometry (CyTOF) analysis compared different human and mouse GBM types and reported immunological distinctions amongst these mouse models. These studies also contrast the immune phenotype of brain tumor patients with commonly used pre-clinical immune-competent mouse models. In this perspective, we provide the outcomes of very recent brain tumor immune-profiling studies and their implications on designing and translating unique, tumor-subtype specific therapeutics.
Keywords: CyTOF; RNA sequencing; glioblastoma; immune-profiling; tumor-microenvironment.