Progress and Challenges in Precise Treatment of Tumors With PD-1/PD-L1 Blockade

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors target the inhibitory receptors on T cells to reinstate their antitumor ability and have shown significant efficacy in treating various cancers. However, because of tumor heterogeneity and many other uncover reasons, the objective response rate for programmed death 1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) blockade is only 20 to 30%; its response rate in solid tumors is relatively low, and different degrees of side effects have occurred. There are still many unknown factors affecting the therapeutic effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Additionally, screening the responding tumor patients accurately and improving the response rate and efficacy are huge challenges for tumor precise treatment. Here, we attempt to summarize the recent progress in response prediction and combined application of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade and briefly discuss the methods and evaluations combined with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade to improve the implementation of precision immunotherapy.

Keywords: PD-1; PD-L1; immunotherapy; patient response; precise treatment.