Current Program in Anti-tumor Immunotherapy: Targeting PD-1/PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint

Abstract

There was extensive ongoing research on immune checkpoint inhibitors for immunotherapy over the past few years. Blocking the immune checkpoint therapy can improve the immune response to tumor cells by inhibiting the binding of PD-1/PD-L1. At present, Programmed Death-1 (PD-1), Programmed Death-Ligand-1 (PD-L1), and CTLA-4 (short for Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated Antigen-4) are the commonest inhibitory checkpoints. They have been extensively studied and discovered to inhibit anti-tumor immune responses in solid tumors and checkpoint pathways. PD-1 is a primary T lymphocyte inhibitor receptor. The highly selective expression of PD-L1 provides a target for tumor immunotherapy. It enables immunoblockade therapy against PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint. Targeted medications are a successful kind of therapy. Immune checkpoint-targeting medications have been effective in treating cancer. In the case of cancer, doctors often activate immune control pathways to suppress new anti-tumor immune responses. Our team thoroughly analyzed the PD-1/PD-L1 immune control pathway involved in cancer immunotherapy in this study. And we make an effort to explain their causes as well as the current therapeutic methods. We also outlined the current role of targeted drugs in the clinical therapeutic management of patients with cancer and reviewed the possible future research directions.