Immune checkpoints and their promising prospect in cholangiocarcinoma treatment in combination with other therapeutic approaches

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the malignant tumors that has shown rapid development in incidence and mortality in recent years. Like other types of cancer, patients with CCA experience alterations in the expression of immune checkpoints, indicating the importance of immune checkpoint inhibitors in treating CCA. The results of TCGA analysis in this study revealed a marginal difference in the expression of important immune checkpoints, Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and their ligands in CCA samples compared to normal ones. This issue showed the importance of combination therapy in this cancer. This review considers CCA treatment and covers several therapeutic modalities or combined treatment strategies. We also cover the most recent developments in the field and outline the important areas of immune checkpoint molecules as prognostic variables and therapeutic targets in CCA.

Keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Cholangiocarcinoma; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Therapeutic approaches.