Question

Multiple Choice: Which of the following treatments against cancer is a checkpoint blockade therapy? (One or more may apply.)

A. Ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4 antibody)

B. Trastuzumab (anti-HER-2/neu antibody)

C. Rituximab (anti-CD20 antibody)

D. Pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1 antibody)

E. Sipuleucel-T (patient’s dendritic cells cultured with prostatic acid phosphatase tumor antigen and GM-CSF and reinfused into patient)

Answer 1

Answer - option A, B and D.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor. Checkpoint proteins, like B7-1/B7-2 on antigen-presenting cells (APC) and CTLA-4 on T cells, help keep the body’s immune responses in check. When the T-cell receptor (TCR) binds to antigen and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins . Binding of B7-1/B7-2 to CTLA-4 keeps the T cells in the inactive state so they are not able to kill tumor cells in the body.

A (VEGFA; e.g. bevacizumab), growth factor receptors such as human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR or HER1; e.g. cetuximab, panitumumab) and EGFR 2 (HER2; e.g. trastuzumab, pertuzumab), and negative immune checkpoint regulators such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4; e.g. ipilimumab) and programmed cell death receptor 1 (PD-1; e.g. nivolumab, pembrolizumab). In addition to the direct, modulatory effects on signal transduction, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.