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• Survival of cancer cells depends on their
ability to evade the anti-tumor immune
response initiated by the host. A key
mechanism of immune evasion - direct
inhibition of cytotoxic T-cells
• T-cell activation is two-step process:
1. Antigen recognition
2. Generation of an antigen-independent co-
regulatory signal that determines whether the
T cell will be switched on or off in response to
the antigen.
This second step is overseen by the immune
checkpoint pathways, which are either
stimulatory or inhibitory
Exploiting Immune Checkpoints
Inhibitors : key to progress in
developing therapeutics