Immune checkpoint blockade: a common denominator approach to cancer therapy
Suzanne L Topalian, Charles G Drake, Drew M Pardoll, Suzanne L Topalian, Charles G Drake, Drew M Pardoll
Abstract
The immune system recognizes and is poised to eliminate cancer but is held in check by inhibitory receptors and ligands. These immune checkpoint pathways, which normally maintain self-tolerance and limit collateral tissue damage during anti-microbial immune responses, can be co-opted by cancer to evade immune destruction. Drugs interrupting immune checkpoints, such as anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, and others in early development, can unleash anti-tumor immunity and mediate durable cancer regressions. The complex biology of immune checkpoint pathways still contains many mysteries, and the full activity spectrum of checkpoint-blocking drugs, used alone or in combination, is currently the subject of intense study.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Figures
![Figure 1. Complex interactions between the CTLA-4/CD28…](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4400238/bin/nihms670602f1.jpg)
![Figure 2. Two general mechanisms for expression…](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/4400238/bin/nihms670602f2.jpg)
Source: PubMed