Lessons Learned from the Blockade of Immune Checkpoints in Cancer Immunotherapy

Overview

Journal J Hematol Oncol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Hematology
Oncology

Date 2018 Feb 28

PMID 29482595

Citations 195

Authors

Xiaolei Li

Changshun Shao

Yufang Shi

Weidong Han

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The advent of immunotherapy, especially checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy, has provided novel and powerful weapons against cancer. Because only a subset of cancer patients exhibit durable responses, further exploration of the mechanisms underlying the resistance to immunotherapy in the bulk of cancer patients is merited. Such efforts may help to identify which patients could benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. Given the existence of a great number of pathways by which cancer can escape immune surveillance, and the complexity of tumor-immune system interaction, development of various combination therapies, including those that combine with conventional therapies, would be necessary. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the mechanisms by which resistance to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy occurs, and outline how actionable combination strategies may be derived to improve clinical outcomes for patients.

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