A Highlight of the Mechanisms of Immune Checkpoint Blocker Resistance

Qian Huang; Yanna Lei; Xiaoying Li; Fukun Guo; Ming Liu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2020.580140

A Highlight of the Mechanisms of Immune Checkpoint Blocker Resistance

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Dec 4:8:580140. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.580140. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Qian Huang¹, Yanna Lei¹, Xiaoying Li¹, Fukun Guo², Ming Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Signal Transduction and Molecular Targeted Therapy, Department of Medical Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States.

Abstract

In recent years, as our understanding of tumor immunology is continuously improved, immunotherapy has come to the center stage of cancer therapy and is deemed as the most promising approach for cancer control. Although immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), has achieved a milestone in several types of tumors, the majority of cancer patients do not benefit from immunotherapy. The dismal outcome of cancer immunotherapy is mainly due to primary or acquired resistance arising from tumor immune evasion. Exploring the mechanisms of tumor immune evasion in the course of immunotherapy may identify biological targets to conquer tumor resistance to immunotherapy. In this review, we highlight tumor cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic factors that may underlie tumor resistance to immune checkpoint blockers. Targeting these factors in combination with immune checkpoint blockers points to the future direction of cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: ICB; PD-1; anti-PD-1; immune microenvironment; immunotherapy resistance.

Publication types

Review