Abstract
The promising results of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in tumors have changed the current treatment modality for cancer. ICIs response prediction is urgently needed for the personalized therapy approach. In the recent issue of the Journal of Oncology, Zixin Hu et al. proposed that DNA methylation alternations contribute to tumor microenvironment (TME) reshapement to predict the ICIs response. Notwithstanding the global DNA methylation loss, the repression of T cell receptor signaling and the fellow costimulators by DNA hypermethylation contributed to the cold TME and ICIs resistance. Hub immune-associated genes edited by DNA methylation also bonded the driver genes and TME. DNA methylation is a promise predictive biomarker and DNA methylation inhibitors may be a novel strategy to fuel ICIs.
Keywords
DNA methylation, Immune checkpoints inhibitors, Biomarker, T cell receptor, Tumor microenvironment