Human Cancer Immunotherapy with Antibodies to the PD-1 and PD-L1 Pathway

Overview

Journal Trends Mol Med

Specialties General Medicine
Molecular Biology

Date 2014 Dec 3

PMID 25440090

Citations 396

Authors

Kim C Ohaegbulam

Amer Assal

Eszter Lazar-Molnar

Yu Yao

Xingxing Zang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor and its ligands programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and PD-L2, members of the CD28 and B7 families, play critical roles in T cell coinhibition and exhaustion. Overexpression of PD-L1 and PD-1 on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, respectively, correlates with poor disease outcome in some human cancers. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) blockading the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway have been developed for cancer immunotherapy via enhancing T cell functions. Clinical trials with mAbs to PD-1 and PD-L1 have shown impressive response rates in patients, particularly for melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and bladder cancer. Further studies are needed to dissect the mechanisms of variable response rate, to identify biomarkers for clinical response, to develop small-molecule inhibitors, and to combine these treatments with other therapies.

Citing Articles

Mechanisms of Resistance to Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy in Melanoma and Strategies to Overcome It.

Zielinska M, Ciazynska M, Sulejczak D, Rutkowski P, Czarnecka A Biomolecules. 2025; 15(2).

PMID: 40001572 PMC: 11853485. DOI: 10.3390/biom15020269.

Human cytomegalovirus tegument protein UL23 promotes gastric cancer immune evasion by facilitating PD-L1 transcription.

Feng S, Shen Y, Zhang H, Liu W, Feng W, Chen X Mol Med. 2025; 31(1):57.

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Notch Signaling and PD-1/PD-L1 Interaction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Potentialities of Combined Therapies.

Montagner A, Arleo A, Suzzi F, DAssoro A, Piscaglia F, Gramantieri L Biomolecules. 2025; 14(12.

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Recent advances in ferrocene-based nanomedicines for enhanced chemodynamic therapy.

Wu G, Tan S, Tan X, Chen G, Yang Q Theranostics. 2025; 15(2):384-407.

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Advancements in immunotherapy for colorectal cancer treatment: a comprehensive review of strategies, challenges, and future prospective.

Kaviyarasan V, Das A, Deka D, Saha B, Banerjee A, Sharma N Int J Colorectal Dis. 2024; 40(1):1.

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