The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy

Nat Rev Cancer. 2012 Mar 22;12(4):252-64. doi: 10.1038/nrc3239.

Abstract

Among the most promising approaches to activating therapeutic antitumour immunity is the blockade of immune checkpoints. Immune checkpoints refer to a plethora of inhibitory pathways hardwired into the immune system that are crucial for maintaining self-tolerance and modulating the duration and amplitude of physiological immune responses in peripheral tissues in order to minimize collateral tissue damage. It is now clear that tumours co-opt certain immune-checkpoint pathways as a major mechanism of immune resistance, particularly against T cells that are specific for tumour antigens. Because many of the immune checkpoints are initiated by ligand-receptor interactions, they can be readily blocked by antibodies or modulated by recombinant forms of ligands or receptors. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) antibodies were the first of this class of immunotherapeutics to achieve US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Preliminary clinical findings with blockers of additional immune-checkpoint proteins, such as programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1), indicate broad and diverse opportunities to enhance antitumour immunity with the potential to produce durable clinical responses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / immunology
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / metabolism
  • CTLA-4 Antigen / physiology
  • Cancer Vaccines / therapeutic use
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Neoplasms / immunology
  • Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / physiology
  • Tumor Escape

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • CTLA-4 Antigen
  • CTLA4 protein, human
  • Cancer Vaccines
  • PDCD1 protein, human
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor