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Review
. 2022 Sep 16:13:975926.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.975926. eCollection 2022.

Targeting 4-1BB for tumor immunotherapy from bench to bedside

Ya-Tao Wang  1 , Wei-Dong Ji  1 , Hong-Mei Jiao  1 , Ang Lu  1 , Kun-Feng Chen  1 , Qi-Bing Liu  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Targeting 4-1BB for tumor immunotherapy from bench to bedside

Ya-Tao Wang et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Immune dysfunction has been proposed as a factor that may contribute to disease progression. Emerging evidence suggests that immunotherapy aims to abolish cancer progression by modulating the balance of the tumor microenvironment. 4-1BB (also known as CD137 and TNFRS9), a member of tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, has been validated as an extremely attractive and promising target for immunotherapy due to the upregulated expression in the tumor environment and its involvement in tumor progression. More importantly, 4-1BB-based immunotherapy approaches have manifested powerful antitumor effects in clinical trials targeting 4-1BB alone or in combination with other immune checkpoints. In this review, we will summarize the structure and expression of 4-1BB and its ligand, discuss the role of 4-1BB in the microenvironment and tumor progression, and update the development of drugs targeting 4-1BB. The purpose of the review is to furnish a comprehensive overview of the potential of 4-1BB as an immunotherapeutic target and to discuss recent advances and prospects for 4-1BB in cancer therapy.

Keywords: 4-1BB; cancer; clinical trials; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immunotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Role of 4-1BB in the tumor microenvironment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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