Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan-Dec:12:1753465817750075.
doi: 10.1177/1753465817750075.

Role of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer

Prantesh Jain  1 , Chhavi Jain  1 , Vamsidhar Velcheti  2
Affiliations
Review

Role of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer

Prantesh Jain et al. Ther Adv Respir Dis. 2018 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors, mainly drugs targeting the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4) pathways, represent a remarkable advance in lung cancer treatment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1 and PD-L1 are approved for the treatment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, with impressive clinical activity and durable responses in some patients. This review will summarize the mechanism of action of these drugs, the clinical development of these agents and the current role of these agents in the management of patients with lung cancer. In addition, the review will discuss the role of predictive biomarkers for optimal patient selection for immunotherapy and management of autoimmune side effects of these agents.

Keywords: biomarkers; checkpoints; immunotherapy; lung cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: VV: consultant/advisory role: BMS, Merck, Genentech, Celgene, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Foundation Medicine, Fulgent Inc. Clovis. Other authors have no disclosures.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Pathways involved in immune checkpoint regulation. APC, antigen-presenting cell; PD-1, programmed cell death 1 [co-stimulatory signals (green)]; PD-L1, programmed cell death ligand 1 [co-inhibitory signals (red)].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ribatti D. The concept of immune surveillance against tumors. The first theories. Oncotarget 2017; 8: 7175–7180. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ehrlich P. Ueber den jetzigen Stand der Karzinomforschung. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 1909; 5: 273–290.
    1. D’Errico G, Machado HL, Sainz B. A current perspective on cancer immune therapy: step-by-step approach to constructing the magic bullet. Clin Transl Med 2017; 6: 3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schalper KA, Velcheti V, Carvajal D, et al. In situ tumor PD-L1 mRNA expression is associated with increased TILs and better outcome in breast carcinomas. Clin Cancer Res 2014; 20: 2773–2782. - PubMed
    1. Schalper KA, Brown J, Carvajal-Hausdorf D, et al. Objective measurement and clinical significance of TILs in non-small cell lung cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2015; 107: 1–4. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms