A REVIEW: CHECKPOINT INHIBITORS IN CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY

R. Pol*, S. Gulavani, S. Sharma

Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment that focuses on boosting one’s immunity to fight cancer instead of directly attacking the cancer cells like is done in the case of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other conventional therapies. Immunotherapy along with other kinds of therapies has shown favorable results during clinical trials. Immune Responses are supervised by a very intricate system of checks and balances which enables protective immunity and toleration. The immune check points prevent the immune response being so strong that may destroy healthy cells in the body. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are molecules that stop these checkpoints from aiding the cancer cells to grow further. They do so by binding to the T-cell receptors before the receptors on the tumor cell can bind to them, hence retaining the activity of the T-lymphocytes. In this review article, we highlight the various checkpoint inhibitors involved in immunotherapy. We address important issues related to pharmacodynamics (PD), pharmacokinetics (PK) and the safety and efficacy of ICIs.