Editorial: Impact of immunotherapy in lung cancer
Marion Ferreira, Karen L. Reckamp
Abstract
Since the approval of the first immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), the treatment paradigm of lung cancer and survival outcomes have been profoundly altered (1, 2). In addition to the characteristics of the tumor cell, the growth and metastatic potential of cancer are also dependent on interactions with the immune system. Checkpoints allow the immune system to avoid unwanted damage to adjacent tissues possibly caused by activated T cells. In cancer, T-cells primed to respond to tumor cells are exposed continuously to tumor antigens within the malignancy, which may result in upregulation of multiple inhibitory receptors, culminating in decreased cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. This T-cell exhaustion can be overcome by modulating the inhibitory pathways with antagonist antibodies, ICI (3). We present in this issue, through a few articles selected and seven studies detailed, a summary of the immunotherapy history in lung cancer, its hopes for efficacy improvement and its challenges for the future.