Comparisons of Underlying Mechanisms, Clinical Efficacy and Safety Between Anti-PD-1 and Anti-PD-L1 Immunotherapy: The State-of-the-Art Review and Future Perspectives

Yating Zhao; Liu Liu; Liang Weng

doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.714483

Comparisons of Underlying Mechanisms, Clinical Efficacy and Safety Between Anti-PD-1 and Anti-PD-L1 Immunotherapy: The State-of-the-Art Review and Future Perspectives

Front Pharmacol. 2021 Jul 7:12:714483. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.714483. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yating Zhao^{1

2}, Liu Liu³, Liang Weng^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
² Clinical Pharmacology, BeiGene Ltd., Shanghai, China.
³ Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Molecular Radiation Oncology, Changsha, China.
⁵ Xiangya Cancer Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁶ Xiangya Lung Cancer Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Over the past decade, diverse PD-1/PD-L1 blockades have demonstrated significant clinical benefit in across a wide range of tumor and cancer types. With the increasing number of PD-1/PD-L1 blockades available in the market, differences between the clinical performance of each of them started to be reported. Here, we provide a comprehensive historical and biological perspective regarding the underlying mechanism and clinical performance of PD-1/PD-L1 blockades, with an emphasis on the comparisons of their clinical efficacy and safety. The real-world evidence indicated that PD-1 blockade may be more effective than the PD-L1, though no significant differences were found as regards to their safety profiles. Future head-to-head studies are warranted for direct comparison between them. Finally, we summarize the yet to be elucidated questions and future promise of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy, including a need to explore novel biomarkers, novel combinatorial strategies, and their clinical use on chronic infection.

Keywords: PD-1/PD-L1; atezolizumab; efficacy; immunotherapy; nivolumab; pembrolizumab; safety; tislelizumab.

Publication types

Review