The promising immune checkpoint LAG-3: from tumor microenvironment to cancer immunotherapy

• Published in: Genes & cancer 2018-05, Vol.9 (5-6), p.176-189
• Main Authors: Long, Long, Zhang, Xue, Chen, Fuchun, Pan, Qi, Phiphatwatchara, Pronnaphat, Zeng, Yuyang, Chen, Honglei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Review
• ISSN: 1947-6019; 1947-6027; 1947-6027
• DOI: 10.18632/genesandcancer.180

Cancer immunotherapy and tumor microenvironment have been at the forefront of research over the past decades. Targeting immune checkpoints especially programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has made a breakthrough in treating advanced malignancies. However, the low response rate brings a daunting challenge, changing the focus to dig deeply into the tumor microenvironment for alternative therapeutic targets. Strikingly, the inhibitory immune checkpoint lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) holds considerable potential. LAG-3 suppresses T cells activation and cytokines secretion, thereby ensuring immune homeostasis. It exerts differential inhibitory impacts on various types of lymphocytes and shows a remarkable synergy with PD-1 to inhibit immune responses. Targeting LAG-3 immunotherapy is moving forward in active clinical trials, and combination immunotherapy of anti-LAG-3 and anti-PD-1 has shown exciting efficacy in fighting PD-1 resistance. Herein, we shed light on the significance of LAG-3 in the tumor microenvironment, highlight its role to regulate different lymphocytes, interplay with other immune checkpoints especially PD-1, and emphasize new advances in LAG-3-targeted immunotherapy.