Immune checkpoint blockade in cancer: current insights and future horizons.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanisms and clinical perspectives without systematic search methodology or novel empirical data.
PubMed 41483376 · doi:10.1007/s12672-025-04361-7
What was done
This narrative review synthesizes the historical development of cancer immunotherapy, key mechanisms of tumor immune evasion (including CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 signaling, immunosuppressive cytokines, and regulatory cell recruitment), mechanisms of primary and acquired resistance, and emerging multimodal therapeutic strategies.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, statistics, or sample sizes. It provides a qualitative overview describing resistance to checkpoint inhibition as multifactorial (tumor-intrinsic alterations, microenvironmental factors, and adaptive immune phenotypes) and outlines future approaches such as combination regimens, next-generation modulators, cancer vaccines, and adoptive cell therapies.
Why it matters
The review provides a structured conceptual summary of the molecular underpinnings of checkpoint inhibitor resistance and prospective directions for personalized immunotherapy combinations.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, meta-analytic pooling, risk-of-bias evaluation, and original empirical or quantitative clinical data in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies targeting PD-1 and CTLA-4 block natural inhibitory receptors on T cells to enhance anti-tumor immune responses.