Research progress and challenges of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in gliomas

Abstract The emergence of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunosuppressants provides new therapeutic directions for various advanced malignant cancers. At present, PD-1/PD-L1 immunosuppressants have made significant progress in clinical trials of some gliomas, but PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have not yet shown convincing clinical efficacy in gliomas. This article summarizes the research progress of the PD-1 /PD-L1 pathway in gliomas through the following three aspects. It mainly includes the complex expression levels and regulatory mechanisms of PD-1/PD-L1 in the glioma microenvironment, the immune infiltration in glioma immunosuppressive microenvironment, and research progress on the application of PD-1/PD-L1 immunosuppressants in clinical treatment trials for gliomas. This will help to understand the current treatment progress and future research directions better.