[Personalized modulation of tumor microimmune microenvironment for the development of effective combination...

Clinical trials for immune-checkpoint inhibitors and T cell-based adoptive cell therapy have demonstrated robust clinical responses in some patients with advanced cancer of various types, including hematological malignancies. However, response rates to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade are about 10%-30% in most cancer types. To improve the efficacy of immunotherapy, combination immunotherapy using other standard cancer therapies (e.g., chemotherapy, target therapy, and radiation) and various immune modulators for crucial regulation points in antitumor T-cell responses (e.g., cancer vaccines, immunogenic cancer cell death inducers, adjuvants, T-cell stimulators, and reversal of immune suppression) is under development. In combination immunotherapy, personalization and use of appropriate combined therapies and immune modulators are also critical depending on the immune status of patients (e.g., cancer types, immunological subtypes, and individual differences). Currently, various types of combination immunotherapy, particularly using PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, are being assessed in clinical trials.