Microenvironmental regulation of tumour immunity and response to immunotherapy
Cet article analyse les défis à relever pour identifier et intégrer dans les études cliniques de nouveaux biomarqueurs permettant d'identifier les patients pouvant bénéficier d'un traitement par inhibiteur de point de contrôle immunitaire, puis passe en revue les études récentes concernant la diversité des fonctions des cellules immunitaires dans le microenvironnement tumoral et l'intérêt de ces fonctions pour améliorer les stratégies thérapeutiques guidées par biomarqueur
The confluence of immunology and oncology has led to a lot of uncertainty and questions about relevant biomarkers. Despite the complexity of the tumour microenvironment most clinical studies have relied on a single-parameter immunohistochemical assay to prospectively select patients for checkpoint inhibitor therapy; the results of this strategy have been highly variable and often less than optimal. While great efforts have been made to identify additional or alternative biomarkers, pathologists, drug developers and clinicians alike have faced technical, logistical and regulatory challenges on how to implement them successfully. In this review, we will discuss these challenges; we will also highlight recent advances in dissecting the functional diversity of immune cell populations within the tumour microenvironment and their potential for improved, biomarker-driven therapeutic strategies. The dynamic nature and cellular diversity of the tumour microenvironment may challenge past models of a single biomarker predicting patient response and clinical outcome.
The Journal of Pathology , article en libre accès, 2021