Review of Pembrolizumab and other Anti PD-1/PD-L1 Antibodies

Abstract

Immunotherapies are rapidly becoming favored amongst physicians for the treatment of various oncologic process due to their more favorable adverse reaction profile in addition to their increased ability to target specific cancer tissue as opposed to the usual widespread devastation of healthy tissue that can accompany chemotherapy and radiation therapy. One class of immunotherapies that has shown exquisite promise in terms of efficacy and limited immune related adverse events is the anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies, which falls under the immunotherapy classification of check point inhibitor. In this paper, we will give a brief review of the background, mechanism, and side effects common to PD-L1/ PD-1 inhibitors as a cancer therapy.