Four years ago, two different research teams have highlighted the possibility that the composition of the gut microbiota could modulate the efficacy of the cancer immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors PD-L1 (1) and CTLA-4 (2).
The gut microbiota corresponds to the various micro-organisms that co-exist in your digestive tract. The microbiota composition, or microbiome, can vary between individuals and is affected by our life habits. Several studies in the past decade have illustrated that the microbiome shapes the immune system through various interactions and crosstalk that happen in the gut.
Cancer immunosurveillance is the main mechanism by which the body can control and eliminate the newly formed cancer cells. In return, this selective pressure will lead to the selection of cells having the ability to evade the immune system. Cancer cells expressing some molecules will continue to appear as self to the immune system. The 2018 medicine Nobel prize that went to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo was celebrating the discoveries behind the recent emergence of the immunotherapeutics targeting immune checkpoints.
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