2 research outputs found
Covid-19 vaccinations : the unknowns, challenges and hopes
The entire world has been suffering from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVIDā19)
pandemic since March 11, 2020. More than a year later, the COVIDā19 vaccination
brought hope to control this viral pandemic. Here, we review the unknowns of the
COVIDā19 vaccination, such as its longevity, asymptomatic spread, longāterm side
effects, and its efficacy on immunocompromised patients. In addition, we discuss
challenges associated with the COVIDā19 vaccination, such as the global access and
distribution of vaccine doses, adherence to hygiene guidelines after vaccination, the
emergence of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSāCoVā2)
variants, and vaccine resistance. Despite all these challenges and the fact that the
end of the COVIDā19 pandemic is still unclear, vaccines have brought great hope for
the world, with several reports indicating a significant decline in the risk of
COVID19ārelated infection and hospitalizations.peer-reviewe
Current and Future Perspectives of PD-1/PDL-1 Blockade in Cancer Immunotherapy
Cancer immunotherapy, which reactivates weakened immune cells of cancer patients, has yielded great success in recent years. Among immunotherapeutic agents, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been of particular interest and have gained approval by the FDA for treatment of cancers. Immune checkpoint blockade through targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) has demonstrated promising antitumor effects in cancer immunotherapy of many different solid and hematologic malignancies. However, despite promising results, a favorable response is observed only in a fraction of patients, and there is still lack of a single therapy modality with curative ability. In this paper, we review the current and future perspectives of PD-1/L1 blockade in cancer immunotherapy, with a particular focus on predictive biomarkers of response to therapy. We also discuss the adverse events associated with PD-1/L1/2 inhibitors, ranging from severe life-threatening conditions such as autoimmune myocarditis to mild and moderate reactions such as skin rashes, and explore the potential strategies for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy with PD-1/L1 checkpoint inhibitors