Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Nov 2017)
The coexpression of multi-immune inhibitory receptors on T lymphocytes in primary non-small-cell lung cancer
Abstract
Wenjie Guo,1,* Sihan Liu,2,* Xiaoli Zhang,1,* Yating Chen,1 Ruolan Qian,1 Ziyuan Zou,2 Xin Chen,1 Peng Luo1 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common disease threatening the health of humankind. It has a low survival rate and a poor prognosis. Under normal circumstances, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) play the main role in the antitumor process, but studies in recent years have found that NSCLC is capable of releasing various immunosuppressive factors, inducing the TILs to exhibit high expression of immune inhibitory receptors and relevant immunosuppressive factors. They can not only activate their own signal pathways but also block those of TILs, which causes inefficiency of tumor destruction. Researchers have now developed targeted drugs that specifically bind to immunosuppression receptors. By blocking signal transmission of immune inhibitory receptors, restraint on T lymphocytes can be released to recover antitumor role. Further research and understanding of the immunosuppression signal pathways of NSCLC are of significant importance to promote the development of immune-targeted drugs and the formulation of new treatment plans. This paper summarizes the immunosuppressive mechanisms of multiple important and newly discovered immune inhibitory receptors on T lymphocytes and immunosuppressive factors released by NSCLC cells, and their influence on patients’ survival rate and prognosis. Further laboratory and clinical studies on immune-targeted drugs for primary NSCLC are needed to provide more evidence. Keywords: NSCLC, TIL, immune inhibitory receptors, immune-targeted drugs
