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World J Clin Oncol. Feb 10, 2017; 8(1): 37-53
Published online Feb 10, 2017. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v8.i1.37
From targeting the tumor to targeting the immune system: Transversal challenges in oncology with the inhibition of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis
Melissa Bersanelli, Sebastiano Buti
Melissa Bersanelli, Sebastiano Buti, Medical Oncology Unit, University Hospital of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy
Author contributions: Both authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Sebastiano Buti, MD, PhD, Medical Oncology Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43126 Parma, Italy. sebabuti@libero.it
Telephone: +39-05-21702316 Fax: +39-05-21995448
Received: August 17, 2016
Peer-review started: August 18, 2016
First decision: September 28, 2016
Revised: November 9, 2016
Accepted: November 27, 2016
Article in press: November 29, 2016
Published online: February 10, 2017
Processing time: 175 Days and 15.3 Hours
Abstract

After that the era of chemotherapy in the treatment of solid tumors have been overcome by the “translational era”, with the innovation introduced by targeted therapies, medical oncology is currently looking at the dawn of a new “immunotherapy era” with the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (CKI) antibodies. The onset of PD-1/PD-L1 targeted therapy has demonstrated the importance of this axis in the immune escape across almost all human cancers. The new CKI allowed to significantly prolong survival and to generate durable response, demonstrating remarkable efficacy in a wide range of cancer types. The aim of this article is to review the most up to date literature about the clinical effectiveness of CKI antibodies targeting PD-1/PD-L1 axis for the treatment of advanced solid tumors and to explore transversal challenges in the immune checkpoint blockade.

Keywords: Immune checkpoint inhibitors; PD-1; PD-L1; Checkpoint inhibitors; Cancer treatment; Immune checkpoint blockade; Anti-PD-1 antibodies; Anti-PD-L1 antibodies

Core tip: The onset of PD-1/PD-L1 targeted therapy in oncology has demonstrated the importance of this axis in the immune escape across almost all human cancers. A sort of revolution has been happening with the investigation of the new immune checkpoint inhibitors in the field of anticancer therapy. The aim of this article is to review the most up to date literature about the clinical effectiveness of the antibodies targeting PD-1/PD-L1 axis for the treatment of advanced solid tumors and to explore transversal challenges in the immune checkpoint blockade.