Immunotherapy Efficacy in Metastatic Cancer
Summary
Immunotherapy has revolutionised treatment paradigms in metastatic cancer by harnessing the body’s immune system to target disseminated tumour cells. Checkpoint blockade therapies, notably those targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, have yielded durable responses in a subset of patients across melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma. However, efficacy varies substantially according to the site of metastasis, the composition of the tumour microenvironment and patient-specific immunological factors. Metastases in the liver and bone often exhibit immunosuppressive niches characterised by reduced infiltration of cytotoxic lymphocytes and heightened local regulatory mechanisms. Emerging strategies focus on overcoming these barriers through combination treatments that include angiogenesis inhibitors, bone-targeted agents and modulators of extracellular matrix components. Novel insights into tissue-specific immune regulation are enabling the design of precision immunotherapies tailored to the unique immunobiology of metastatic sites, with the ultimate goal of widening the proportion of patients who derive lasting benefit.
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Immunotherapy Efficacy in Metastatic Cancer publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in immunotherapy efficacy in metastatic cancer across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs): Therapies that block inhibitory receptors on immune cells (such as PD-1 and CTLA-4) to enhance anti-tumour responses.
Tumour microenvironment (TME): The complex milieu of stromal cells, immune cells, extracellular matrix and signalling molecules surrounding cancer cells.
Regulatory T cells (Tregs): A subset of T lymphocytes that suppress immune activation and maintain self-tolerance, often enriched in tumour sites.
Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs): Immune cells, particularly T cells, that migrate into and coexist with tumour tissue, indicative of anti-tumour immunity.
Progression-free survival (PFS): The length of time during and after treatment in which the disease does not worsen, used as an efficacy endpoint in clinical trials.
References
- Induced collagen type‐I secretion by hepatocytes of the melanoma liver metastasis is associated with a reduction in tumour‐infiltrating lymphocytes. Clinical and Translational Medicine (2024).
- Progress of immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy for non-small cell lung cancer with liver metastases. British Journal of Cancer (2023).
- Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors With or Without Bone-Targeted Therapy in NSCLC Patients With Bone Metastases and Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio. Frontiers in Immunology (2021).
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