The successful use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has been big breakthrough in the development of cancer immunotherapy. Anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody, ipilimumab, is the first-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor and has shown durable objective responses for advanced melanoma beyond the effect of dacarbazine.
Anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies, nivolumab and pembrolizumab, are other immune checkpoint inhibitors that have demonstrated more effective results than conventional drugs in clinical trials for a variety of advanced solid tumors including melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma and renal carcinoma. These studies have indicated that the enhancement of anti-cancer immunity by controlling the immune suppressive environment in cancer tissues is an important issue for the development of cancer immune-therapy. Accordingly, in recent years, the enthusiasm for research of cancer immunology has shifted to studies regarding the formation of the immune suppressive environment, immune suppression mechanisms in cancer tissues and the molecules and cells involved in these pathways. Novel findings from these studies might lead to the development of cancer immunotherapy based on control of the immune suppressive environment.
Japanese journal of clinical oncology. 2016 Jan 26 [Epub ahead of print]
Susumu Suzuki, Takashi Ishida, Kazuhiro Yoshikawa, Ryuzo Ueda
Department of Tumor Immunology, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute Department of Hematology and Oncology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya. , Center for Advanced Medical Research, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan. , Department of Tumor Immunology, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute.