Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

The intestinal microbiome influences checkpoint blockade

Nature Medicine volume 24, pages 254–255 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Studies in metastatic melanoma, non-small-cell lung carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma indicate certain bacteria within the gut microbiota enhance clinical responses to checkpoint blockade.

Cancer immunotherapy refers to a spectrum of strategies that empower the patient's own immune system to attack their cancer. In particular, immunotherapeutic antibodies that block tumors from activating inhibitory pathways, also called checkpoints, involving T cells are now approved for use in nine different cancer types and in mismatch repair–deficient (MMRd) cancer of any histology. These therapies have enabled some patients with advanced cancer to move from near death to health; more often, cancer immunotherapy has a less dramatic but life-prolonging effect in patients with metastatic cancer. However, only 10–30% of treated patients respond to currently available immunotherapies1. Four recently published papers2,3,4,5 present tantalizing data showing that bacterial members of the colon microbiota can improve the outcome of cancer immunotherapy for patients through impacting the immune system, and these may be actionable targets for therapy.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Colon microbiota may contribute to checkpoint-blockade response or nonresponse in patients with melanoma or epithelial cancers.

Marina Corral Spence/Springer Nature

References

  1. Topalian, S.L., Drake, C.G. & Pardoll, D.M. Cancer Cell 27, 450–461 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Routy, B. et al. Science 359, 91–97 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Gopalakrishnan, V. et al. Science 359, 97–103 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Matson, V. et al. Science 359, 104–108 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chaput, N. et al. Ann. Oncol. 28, 1368–1379 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lynch, S.V. & Pedersen, O. N. Engl. J. Med. 375, 2369–2379 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Viaud, S. et al. Science 342, 971–976 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Iida N, et al. Science 342, 967–970 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Vétizou, M. et al. Science 350, 1079–1084 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Sivan, A. et al. Science 350, 1084–1089 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Weber, J.S. et al. J. Clin. Oncol. 35, 785–792 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Balitmore, Maryland, USA

    Cynthia L Sears & Drew M Pardoll

Authors
  1. Cynthia L Sears
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Drew M Pardoll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cynthia L Sears.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

D.M.P. receives funding from Bristol–Myers Squibb and the Melanoma Research Alliance for immunotherapy research and consults for a number of companies with interests in immunotherapy, namely Compugen, GlaxoSmithKline, Medimmune/AstraZeneca, Merck, Potenza Therapeutics, Sanofi, Tizona, DNatrix, Amgen, Rock Springs Capital, Immunomic Therapeutics, Janssen, WindMil Therapeutics and Bayer. D.M.P. and C.L.S. are both supported by the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Immunotherapy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sears, C., Pardoll, D. The intestinal microbiome influences checkpoint blockade. Nat Med 24, 254–255 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4511

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4511

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing