Analysis of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of immunomodulation in cancer: a systematic review

Objective: To analyze the scientific evidence from studies on the effectiveness of immunomodulation in cancer. Methodology: This is a systematic review that searched for studies in the respective databases such as Pubmed, Scopus, Cinahl, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Data Base, using descriptors in English, selected in the Medical Subject Headings- MeSH. Soon after cataloging, the studies were analyzed through the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials-CONSORT, and Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE), the study sample consisted of nine articles. Results: Analysis of the studies reveals that immunomodulators have an average efficacy rate of 56% for some neoplasms. It was also observed that some substances showed good efficacy in the immunomodulation axis, such as Vitamin D, which decreases the relative risk for colon, breast, and prostate cancer. Immunomodulation was successful in increasing the survival of patients with endocrine (52%) and dermatological (45%) cancers who had low-grade (57%) immunity-related adverse events (irAE). Conclusion: Immunomodulatory therapy is evidenced as an advance in cancer therapy for presenting promising results, showing effectiveness for certain neoplasms.