Immune Resistance Mechanisms and the Road to Personalized Immunotherapy

Abstract

What does the future of cancer immunotherapy look like and how do we get there? Find out where we've been and where we're headed in A Report on Resistance: The Road to personalized immunotherapyDespite decades of clinical and preclinical studies, the markers and mechanisms of resistance to cancer immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), remain elusive. In this review, we address the current clinical challenges regarding ICB treatment by examining the underlying cellular and molecular contributors to resistance and newly developed agents to target them. Furthermore, we discuss emerging computational tools to consolidate genomic data and provide examples of how these tools can guide clinical decision making in the context of immuno-oncology. Finally, we examine the shortcomings and clinical limitations of current predictive biomarkers of response to ICB treatment and provide details on next-generation biomarker research, including prospective genomic profiling on the basis of known biomarkers and personalized immunotherapy.