Programmed cell death-ligand 2: new insights in cancer

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, with the anti-PD-1/PD-L1 axis therapy demonstrating significant clinical efficacy across various tumor types. However, it should be noted that this therapy is not universally effective for all PD-L1-positive patients, highlighting the need to expedite research on the second ligand of PD-1, known as Programmed Cell Death Receptor Ligand 2 (PD-L2). As an immune checkpoint molecule, PD-L2 was reported to be associated with patient's prognosis and plays a pivotal role in cancer cell immune escape. An in-depth understanding of the regulatory process of PD-L2 expression may stratify patients to benefit from anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Our review focuses on exploring PD-L2 expression in different tumors, its correlation with prognosis, regulatory factors, and the interplay between PD-L2 and tumor treatment, which may provide a notable avenue in developing immune combination therapy and improving the clinical efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapies.