[오늘의 키워드] immuno-anticancer drug
Immuno-anticancer drugs are drugs that prevent cancer cells from evading the body’s immune system or allow immune cells to better recognize and attack cancer cells.
Immuno-oncology is the third-generation cancer treatment following the first-generation cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs in the 1960s and 1970s and the second-generation targeted anti-cancer drugs in 1999.
Because it works through the body’s immune system, the side effects of existing anticancer drugs are relatively low, but thyroid disease, pneumonia, enteritis, and endocrine abnormalities due to changes in the immune system have been reported.
Immunotherapy drugs introduced in Korea include Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Opdivo (nivolumab), Tecentriq (atezolizumab), and Imfinzi (dervalumab).
Immuno-anticancer drugs are classified into CTLA-4 inhibitors, PD-1 inhibitors, and PD-L1 inhibitors according to their mechanism of action. Imfinzi and Tecentriq are PD-L1 inhibitors, and Keytruda and Opdivo are PD-1 inhibitors. The pathway of action is the same, but there is a difference in that PD-L1 inhibitors bind to cancer cells and PD-1 inhibitors bind to immune cells, T cells.
Immuno-anticancer drugs can be used for various carcinomas, but are commonly used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. Keytruda was approved for the first-line non-small cell lung cancer treatment, and Opdivo was approved for bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma as indications. Tecentriq’s indications are metastatic urothelial cancer and breast cancer, and Imfinzi has been approved for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
