Haematology 2018

Exploiting Immune Checkpoints Inhibitors in cancer

• Survival of cancer cells depends on their ability to evade the antitumor 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 . antigen-independent co-regulatory signa l 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