Frontiers in Immunology (Jun 2024)

Further knowledge and developments in resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint inhibitors

  • Léa Berland,
  • Léa Berland,
  • Zeina Gabr,
  • Zeina Gabr,
  • Michelle Chang,
  • Marius Ilié,
  • Marius Ilié,
  • Marius Ilié,
  • Marius Ilié,
  • Véronique Hofman,
  • Véronique Hofman,
  • Véronique Hofman,
  • Véronique Hofman,
  • Guylène Rignol,
  • Guylène Rignol,
  • Guylène Rignol,
  • François Ghiringhelli,
  • François Ghiringhelli,
  • Baharia Mograbi,
  • Baharia Mograbi,
  • Mohamad Rashidian,
  • Paul Hofman,
  • Paul Hofman,
  • Paul Hofman,
  • Paul Hofman

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1384121
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

Read online

The past decade has witnessed a revolution in cancer treatment, shifting from conventional drugs (chemotherapies) towards targeted molecular therapies and immune-based therapies, in particular immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). These immunotherapies release the host’s immune system against the tumor and have shown unprecedented durable remission for patients with cancers that were thought incurable, such as metastatic melanoma, metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), microsatellite instability (MSI) high colorectal cancer and late stages of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, about 80% of the patients fail to respond to these immunotherapies and are therefore left with other less effective and potentially toxic treatments. Identifying and understanding the mechanisms that enable cancerous cells to adapt to and eventually overcome therapy can help circumvent resistance and improve treatment. In this review, we describe the recent discoveries on the onco-immunological processes which govern the tumor microenvironment and their impact on the resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade.

Keywords