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This review summarizes recent advances showing how repurposed agents reshape host immune responses, emphasizing mechanistic pathways in immune cells and the role of macrophages, T-cell immune checkpoint targets, and other immune populations. It surveys candidates reaching clinical stages across cancers, evaluates their effects on innate and adaptive responses, and discusses key obstacles limiting clinical translation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/recent-advances-in-drug-repurposing-for-cancer-immunomodulation-review-mechanistic-insights-and-clinical-translation/353976/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/recent-advances-in-drug-repurposing-for-cancer-immunomodulation-review-mechanistic-insights-and-clinical-translation/353976.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Sophia Brooks","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-23","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main purpose of drug repurposing in cancer treatment?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Drug repurposing reuses already approved drugs to target cancer, speeding development compared with creating new molecules and moving faster toward clinical evaluation.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do repurposed drugs enhance antitumor immunity?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They modulate the immune system by acting on immune cells and pathways, including mechanisms related to innate and adaptive responses, immune cell activation, cytokine release, and T-cell functions.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What are the key challenges in translating repurposed drugs into clinical use?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Clinical translation faces hurdles such as funding, intellectual property and regulatory development considerations, along with resistance mechanisms that reduce or limit therapeutic benefit.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},353976,1790156675,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":36},962084925636,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","TYPE Review  \nPUBLISHED 20 March 2026  \nDOI 10.3389/fonc.2026.1763769  \nOPEN ACCESS  \nEDITED BY  \nYuanliang Yan,  \nCentral South University, China  \nREVIEWED BY  \nXiaolin Wu,  \nThe Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, China  \nKeval Raval,  \nCharotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT), India  \n*CORRESPONDENCE  \nJonaid Ahmad Malik  \n[junaidpsst@gmail.com](junaidpsst@gmail.com)  \n†PRESENT ADDRESS  \nJonaid Ahmad Malik,  \nDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Cell Biology and immunology, Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, United States  \nRECEIVED 09 December 2025  \nREVISED 28 February 2026  \nACCEPTED 03 March 2026  \nPUBLISHED 20 March 2026  \nCITATION  \nMalik JA, Talkhan H, Fatima F and Hani U (2026) Recent advancesin drug repurposing for cancer immunomodulation emerging strategies, mechanistic insights, and clinical translation.  \nFront. Oncol. 16:1763769 .  \ndoi: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1763769  \nCOPYRIGHT  \n© 2026 Malik, Talkhan, Fatima and Hani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) .  \nThe use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.  \nRecent advances in drug repurposing for cancer immunomodulation emerging strategies, mechanistic insights, and clinical translation  \nJonaid Ahmad Malik 1*†, Hend Talkhan 2, Farhat Fatima 3 and Umme Hani 4  \n1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, India, 2Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia, 3 Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, 4 Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia  \nDrug repurposing is a significant strategy in drug discovery, as it saves substantial amounts of time and money. Drugs already approved for other diseases can be repurposed to target cancer. Cancer remains one of the most fatal diseases, and it still does not have a cure. Developing new drug molecules and advancing them from preclinical to clinical stages can take many years, whereas drug repurposing offers a faster alternative. Many repurposed drugs have already progressed to clinical trials. This paper highlights recent advances in how FDA-approved drugs modulate the immune system to enhance host-based immune responses against cancer, and describes the mechanistic pathways through which these drugs acton immune cells. This paper also discusses how targeting macrophages, immune checkpoints on T-Cells, and other immune cell populations can strengthen immunotherapy. In addition, the paper reviews drugs that have advanced to clinical stages and are showing promising results across different cancers, as well as the challenges associated with clinical translation. This paper outlines how drug re purposing can influence the immune system within the context of cancer chemotherapy.  \nKEYWORDS  \ncancer, drug repurposing, immunomodulation, immunotherapy, oncology  \nFrontiers in Oncology 01 [frontiersin.org](frontiersin.org)  \nMalik et al. 10.3389/fonc.2026.1763769  \nGRAPHICAL ABSTRACT  \nDrug repurposing for cancer immunomodulation. FDA-approved drugs screened for potential anticancer and immunomodulatory effects. In the preclinical stage, these compounds undergo in vitro testing to evaluate their impact on cancer cells and their modulation of the immune system, followed by in vivo studies in animal models to assess therapeutic efficacy and immune system engagement. The most promising candidates advance to clinical trials, where their ability to modulate innate and adaptive immune responses, including antigen presentat","cbCaigquU4wGU3mc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigquU4wGU3mc","pdf",3154687,16,"English","# Introduction\n# Drug repurposing strategies for cancer immunomodulation\n## Mechanistic pathways in immune cells\n## Macrophages and T-cell immune checkpoints\n# Clinical translation and challenges","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of drug repurposing in cancer treatment?\",\"answer\":\"Drug repurposing reuses already approved drugs to target cancer, speeding development compared with creating new molecules and moving faster toward clinical evaluation.\"},{\"question\":\"How do repurposed drugs enhance antitumor immunity?\",\"answer\":\"They modulate the immune system by acting on immune cells and pathways, including mechanisms related to innate and adaptive responses, immune cell activation, cytokine release, and T-cell functions.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the key challenges in translating repurposed drugs into clinical use?\",\"answer\":\"Clinical translation faces hurdles such as funding, intellectual property and regulatory development considerations, along with resistance mechanisms that reduce or limit therapeutic benefit.\"}]","Recent advances in drug repurposing for cancer immunomodulation - Review - Mechanistic insights and clinical translation | PDF",1790108292]