PD-1 and PD-L1 in cancer immunotherapy: clinical implications and future considerations

• Published in: Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 1111 - 1122
• Main Authors: Jiang, Yongshuai, Chen, Ming, Nie, Hong, Yuan, Yuanyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 04.05.2019; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological - therapeutic use; B7-H1 Antigen - chemistry; B7-H1 Antigen - immunology; checkpoint; Clinical Trials as Topic; Combined Modality Therapy - trends; Humans; immunotherapy; Immunotherapy - trends; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - therapy; PD-1; PD-L1; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor - antagonists & inhibitors; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor - chemistry; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor - immunology; Reviews; Signal Transduction; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; tumor; Tumor Microenvironment; checkpoint; PD-L1; PD-1; tumor; immunotherapy
• ISSN: 2164-5515; 2164-554X; 2164-554X
• DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1571892

Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a cell surface receptor that functions as a T cell checkpoint and plays a central role in regulating T cell exhaustion. Binding of PD-1 to its ligand, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), activates downstream signaling pathways and inhibits T cell activation. Moreover abnormally high PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and antigen-presenting cells in the tumor microenvironment mediates tumor immune escape, and the development of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies has recently become a hot topic in cancer immunotherapy. Here, we review the structure of PD-1 and PD-L1, the function of the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway, the application of PD-1 or PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies and future directions for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies with combination therapies. Cancer immunotherapy using PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade may require more studies, and this approach may be curative for patients with many types of cancer in the future.