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Establishment of a Co-culture System of Patient-Derived Colorectal Tumor Organoids and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs)
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Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Colorectal Cancer: Challenges and Future Prospects

Shima Makaremi1, Zahra Asadzadeh2, Nima Hemmat2

  • 1Department of Immunology & Microbiology, School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak 3848176941, Iran.

Biomedicines
|September 28, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) shows promise for colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. Combining ICIs like PD-1/PD-L1 blockers with others (CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3) may overcome treatment resistance.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Cancer Therapy

Background:

  • Immunotherapy, particularly targeting immune checkpoints, offers new strategies for solid tumor treatment.
  • Colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment has advanced with immunotherapy, but challenges remain due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent advancements in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for colorectal cancer (CRC).
  • To discuss therapeutic strategies involving ICIs, including combination therapies.
  • To explore novel combinations of ICIs for improved CRC treatment outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in CRC.
  • Analysis of therapeutic strategies employing ICIs, such as dual blockade and combination therapies.
  • Exploration of emerging combinations involving anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 with other ICIs.

Main Results:

  • Checkpoint-blocking antibodies enhance anti-tumor immune responses in CRC patients.
  • Various ICIs including CTLA-4, PD-1, PD-L1, LAG-3, and TIM-3 show potential in CRC.
  • Combination strategies, including dual ICI blockade, show promise.

Conclusions:

  • ICIs represent a significant advance in CRC immunotherapy.
  • Overcoming TME-mediated immunosuppression is crucial for effective CRC treatment.
  • Combinations of anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 with other ICIs (anti-CTLA-4, anti-LAG-3, anti-TIM-3) offer a promising therapeutic avenue for CRC.
Keywords:
cancer immunotherapycolorectal cancerimmune checkpointsmonoclonal antibodies (mAbs)

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