Pharmacological targeting of PD-L1/PD-1 signaling in gynecological cancers

PD-L1/PD-1 signaling is a theme of increasingly detailed research over the past two decades that has provided impetus for phenomenal breakthroughs in our understanding of their fundamental biology and pathogenesis. There is a progressive refinement in our understanding of the pivotal relevance of the pharmacologically tractable PD-L1/PD-1 pathway. In this mini-review, we have sketched a rapidly developing landscape related to the role of PD-L1/PD-1 signaling inhibitors in the prevention of carcinogenesis and metastasis. Non-coding RNA mediated regulation of PD-L1/PD-1 cascade is also an exciting facet of molecular immunology. Long non-coding RNAs have been shown to sponge away microRNAs and potentiate the expression of PD-L1 and/or PD-1, thus leading to an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Accordingly, pharmacological targeting of PD-L1/PD-1 signaling can be exploited to reshape the tumor microenvironment and to reap clinically valuable benefits.