Role of Clinical Pharmacology in the Development and Approval of Immunotherapies Targeting Immune Checkpoints

Immune surveillance plays a critical role in preventing the development and progression of cancer. Immune modulators, such as interferon-gamma or interleukin-2, have been a part of the cancer treatment armament over the past few decades. However, new understandings regarding the role of the costimulatory and coinhibitory molecules associated with T-cells and antigen-presenting cells as well as tumor necrosis factor receptors and ligands have ushered the new era of immunotherapy for cancer treatment. We now know that primary cancer cells evade screening by the innate immune system, proliferate, and form metastases by upregulating immune inhibitory pathways referred to as immune checkpoints. The recent development of therapies that target immune checkpoints, such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4, programmed cell death 1, programmed cell death ligand 1, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3, and lymphocyte activation gene 3 precisely target the immune system and give new hope for treating various types of cancer. In select marker-enriched populations, immunotherapies provide high response rates as well as durable responses in terms of progression-free survival and overall survival. Numerous factors, such as patient's immune system, the expression of targets on both immune and cancer cells, maintenance of an effective drug exposure, and tolerability to these agents may play a role in this unique observation.