Abstract
Blockade of programmed death 1 (PD-1) protein and its ligand programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been used as cancer immunotherapy in recent years, with the blockade of PD-1 being more widely used than blockade of PD-L1. PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade therapy showed benefits in patients with various types of cancer; however, such beneficial effects were seen only in a subgroup of patients. Improving the efficacy of PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade therapy is clearly needed. In this review, we summarize the recent studies on the effects of gut microbiota on PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade and discuss the new perspectives on improving efficacy of PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade therapy in cancer treatment through modulating gut microbiota. We also discuss the possibility that chronic infections or inflammation may impact on PD-1 and PD-L1 blockade therapy.
Highlights
The immune system uses various effector cells and molecules to control and eradicate infectious agents and cancer cells
MCC, metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; HNSCC, head and neck squamous cell cancer; cHL, classical Hodgkin lymphoma; MSI-H, microsatellite instability-high cancer; dMMR, mismatch repair deficient; SCCHN, recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. In which they showed that germ-free mice transplanted with stool samples from patients who responded to anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) and anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy had a significantly reduced tumor growth and improved responses to anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 therapy, coupled with a higher density of CD8+ T cells
Germ-free mice transplanted with stool samples from patients responded to anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 therapy had a significantly reduced tumor growth and improved responses to anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 therapy coupled with higher density of CD8+ T cells in tumor
Summary
The immune system uses various effector cells and molecules to control and eradicate infectious agents and cancer cells. MODULATION OF GUT MICROBIOTA ENHANCES THE ANTI-TUMOR EFFICACY OF PD-1 AND PD-L1 BLOCKADE THERAPY Several additional studies compared the gut microbiota in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving anti-PD-1 therapy.
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