Why Don’t Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Work in Colorectal Cancer?

Abstract

In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to be effective in treating manifold types of cancer but less robust in colorectal cancer (CRC). While, the subgroup of CRC with microsatellite instability (MSI; also termed as mismatch repair deficient) showed a moderate response to Pembrolizumab in a single arm phase II clinical trial, microsatellite stable (MSS) cancers were unresponsive. Possible mechanisms that affect immune response in colorectal cancer will be reviewed in this article. We will also propose that histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition may reverse the immune editing commonly seen in advanced CRC and render them sensitive to immune checkpoint blockade.