Therapy that targets programmed death 1 or programmed death 1 ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1), which are known as immune checkpoints, has been recently rapidly developing as oncotherapy for various carcinomas. However, this therapy has a poor effect on the treatment of pancreatic cancer with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade monotherapy. In this review, the development and limitations of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy in pancreatic cancer are discussed. We then consider the underlying mechanism of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy failure, combination strategies overcoming resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy and the prospect of targeting PD-1/PD-L1 for the immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer.
Mengyu Feng, Guangbing Xiong, Zhe Cao, Gang Yang, Suli Zheng, Xujun Song, Lei You, Lianfang Zheng, Taiping Zhang, and Yupei Zhao.
Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China. Electronic address: fmy0321@126.com.