ReviewFrontiers in molecular neuroscience2019
Immune Checkpoint Blockade - How Does It Work in Brain Metastases?
Review in Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Outcomes of Immunosuppressant Drugs in Patients Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2026Pooled it
- The combined use of steroids and immune checkpoint inhibitors in brain metastasis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuro-oncology · 2021Pooled it
- PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemoradiotherapy in two cases of ovarian cancer brain metastases: a case report.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Patients with Brain Metastases from Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Emerging Mechanisms and Personalized Clinical Strategies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Hyperprogression of brain metastases following initiation of immune checkpoint inhibitors.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Article
- Natural killer cells are required for the recruitment of CD8+ T cells and the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma brain metastases.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2024Article
- Case report: Long-term intracranial effect of zimberelimab monotherapy following surgical resection of high PD-L1-expressing brain metastases from NSCLC.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Potential Predictive Biomarkers for Defining Brain Radiotherapy Efficacy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases: A Case Report and a Narrative Review.Clinics and practice · 2023Article
- A case of discordant histology and expression of programmed death ligand 1 between primary tumor and brain metastases in adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung.Thoracic cancer · 2023Article
- Optimal timing and sequence of combining stereotactic radiosurgery with immune checkpoint inhibitors in treating brain metastases: clinical evidence and mechanistic basis.Journal of translational medicine · 2023Review
- Review
- Do animal models of brain tumors replicate human peritumoral edema? a systematic literature search.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2023Review
- Immunotherapy in the context of immune-specialized environment of brain metastases.Discovery immunology · 2023Review
- An Insight into Molecular Targets of Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Microenvironmental Landscape of Human Melanoma Brain Metastases in Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibition.Cancer immunology research · 2022Article
- Procollagen-Lysine, 2-Oxoglutarate 5-Dioxygenase Family: Novel Prognostic Biomarkers and Tumor Microenvironment Regulators for Lower-Grade Glioma.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022Article
- Tumor immune microenvironment in brain metastases from gynecologic malignancies.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2021Article
- Next-generation immunotherapies for brain metastatic cancers.Trends in cancer · 2021Review
- Intracranial response after extracranial radiation in a patient with rapidly progressing metastatic melanoma.BMJ case reports · 2021Article
- Emerging principles of brain immunology and immune checkpoint blockade in brain metastases.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Immune checkpoints restrain the immune system following its activation and their inhibition unleashes anti-tumor immune responses. Immune checkpoint inhibitors revolutionized the treatment of several cancer types, including melanoma, and immune checkpoint blockade with anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies is becoming a frontline therapy in metastatic melanoma. Notably, up to 60% of metastatic melanoma patients develop metastases in the brain. Brain metastases (BrM) are also very common in patients with lung and breast cancer, and occur in ∼20-40% of patients across different cancer types. Metastases in the brain are associated with poor prognosis due to the lack of efficient therapies. In the past, patients with BrM used to be excluded from immune-based clinical trials due to the assumption that such therapies may not work in the context of "immune-specialized" environment in the brain, or may cause harm. However, recent trials in patients with BrM demonstrated safety and intracranial activity of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapy. We here discuss how immune checkpoint therapy works in BrM, with focus on T cells and the cross-talk between BrM, the immune system, and tumors growing outside the brain. We discuss major open questions in our understanding of what is required for an effective immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in BrM.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.