Research progress on the immune microenvironment and immunotherapy in gastric cancer

Abstract

The tumor microenvironment, particularly the immune microenvironment, plays an indispensable role in the malignant progression and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC). As our understanding of the GC microenvironment continues to evolve, we are gaining deeper insights into the biological mechanisms at the single-cell level. This, in turn, has offered fresh perspectives on GC therapy. Encouragingly, there are various monotherapy and combination therapies in use, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell transfer therapy, chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates, and cancer vaccines. In this paper, we review the current research progress regarding the GC microenvironment and summarize promising immunotherapy research and targeted therapies.

Application of immune checkpoint inhibitors for resectable gastric/gastroesophageal cancer

“…These biomarkers are worth further investigation and combinatorial biomarker strategies are more reasonable than traditional single immune-specific markers. Additionally, components of the TME such as the extracellular matrix, immune cells, stromal cells, aberrant blood vessels, cytokines, and growth factors play critical roles in tumor growth, development, progression, and treatment response ( Mou et al, 2023 ; Roy and George, 2023 ; Wong et al, 2023 ). Multi-omics tools not only facilitate new biomarker discovery but also allow in-depth exploration within TME, including immune cell types, quantities, spatial distribution and various molecules, which could drive advancements of precision immunotherapy ( Han and Zhan, 2022 ).…”