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Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Analysis of Human T Cell Activity in an Allogeneic Co-Culture Setting of Pre-Treated Tumor Cells
Published on: March 7, 2025
Antibiotic therapy and outcome from immune-checkpoint inhibitors
David J Pinato1,2, Daria Gramenitskaya3, Daniel M Altmann4
1Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, W120NN, UK. david.pinato@imperial.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICPI) therapy is governed by a complex interplay of tumor and host-related determinants. Epidemiological studies have highlighted that exposure to antibiotic therapy influences the probability of response to ICPI and predict for shorter patient survival across malignancies. Whilst a number of studies have reproducibly documented the detrimental effect of broad-spectrum antibiotics, the immune-biologic mechanisms underlying the association with outcome are poorly understood. Perturbation of the gut microbiota, an increasingly well-characterized factor capable of influencing ICPI-mediated immune reconstitution, has been indicated as a putative mechanism to explain the adverse effects attributed to antibiotic exposure in the context of ICPI therapy. Prospective studies are required to validate antibiotic-mediated gut perturbations as a mechanism of ICPI refractoriness and guide the development of strategies to overcome this barrier to an effective delivery of anti-cancer immunotherapy.
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