Abstract
In the last decade immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) against
the PD-1/PD-L1 system have revolutionised the treatment of numerous entities. To date,
ovarian cancer has benefited very little from this success story. Possible causes
include a rather low mutational burden compared to other tumour types, inadequate
presentation of (neo-)antigens, and increased infiltration with immunosuppressive
immune cells such as regulatory T cells and tumour-associated macrophages. In the
clinical trials completed to date, the response rates to PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors
have therefore been disappointingly low as well, although isolated long-term remissions
have also been observed in ovarian cancer. The task now is to find suitable predictive
biomarkers as well as to identify combination partners for ICB therapy that can increase
the immunogenicity of ovarian cancer or overcome immunosuppressive resistance mechanisms.
This paper provides an overview of the
immune milieu in ovarian cancer, its impact on the effect of ICB, and summarises
the clinical trial data available to date on ICB in ovarian cancer.
Key words ovarian cancer - immune checkpoint blockade - PD-L1 - tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes