{"entity":{"id":"immuno-oncology","kind":"term","name":"Immuno-oncology (IO) and checkpoint blockade","aka":["I-O","immuno-oncology","checkpoint blockade","immune checkpoint blockade","ICB","ICI","ICIs","PD-1 blockade","PD-(L)1","PD-(L)1 blockade","PD-1/PD-L1","anti-PD-1","anti-PD-L1","anti-CTLA-4","anti-PD(L)1","chemo-IO","chemo-immunotherapy","chemoimmunotherapy","IO-based","IO-naive","post-IO","IO-refractory","immunotherapy-refractory","immunotherapy-resistant","dual checkpoint blockade","dual immune checkpoint blockade","IO combination","IO + chemo"],"tldr":"Treatments that take the brakes off the patient's own immune system so it attacks the cancer, chiefly antibodies against PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4. 'IO' is industry shorthand; 'chemo-IO' means chemotherapy plus a checkpoint inhibitor, the commonest first-line combination.","summary":"Since ipilimumab (2011) and pembrolizumab/nivolumab (2014), checkpoint inhibitors have become standard in melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder, head and neck, liver, gastric, oesophageal, cervical, endometrial, triple-negative breast and MSI-high cancers, and in curative settings before and after surgery. Benefit tracks PD-L1 expression, tumour mutational burden and MSI status but imperfectly; 'cold' tumours (pancreatic, prostate, MSS colorectal, most glioblastoma) remain resistant, and roughly 40% of responders eventually progress. Immune-related adverse events affect any organ. Next steps include LAG-3, TIGIT (mixed), PD-1×VEGF bispecifics (ivonescimab), and combining IO with ADCs.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_checkpoint_inhibitor","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_checkpoint_inhibitor"}],"tags":[],"related":["irae","pd-l1-testing","cold-vs-hot","tmb","msi","mss-pmmr"],"cancers":[],"sections":["immunotherapy"],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor","bispecific-antibody"],"targets":[],"drugs":["pembrolizumab","nivolumab","ipilimumab","durvalumab","atezolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Treatment jargon"},"route":"/terms/immuno-oncology/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"checkpoint","kind":"term","name":"Checkpoint (two meanings)","route":"/terms/checkpoint/"},{"id":"cold-vs-hot","kind":"term","name":"Hot vs cold tumours","route":"/terms/cold-vs-hot/"},{"id":"irae","kind":"term","name":"Immune-related adverse events (irAEs)","route":"/terms/irae/"},{"id":"msi","kind":"term","name":"Microsatellite instability (MSI-H) / mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR)","route":"/terms/msi/"},{"id":"mss-pmmr","kind":"term","name":"Microsatellite-stable (MSS) / mismatch-repair proficient (pMMR)","route":"/terms/mss-pmmr/"},{"id":"pd-l1-testing","kind":"term","name":"PD-L1 expression testing (22C3, SP142, SP263)","route":"/terms/pd-l1-testing/"},{"id":"tmb","kind":"term","name":"Tumour mutational burden (TMB)","route":"/terms/tmb/"}],"section":[{"id":"immunotherapy","kind":"section","name":"Immunotherapy","route":"/fronts/immunotherapy/"}],"technology":[{"id":"bispecific-antibody","kind":"technology","name":"Bispecific antibodies","route":"/technologies/bispecific-antibody/"},{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"drug":[{"id":"atezolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Atezolizumab","route":"/drugs/atezolizumab/"},{"id":"durvalumab","kind":"drug","name":"Durvalumab","route":"/drugs/durvalumab/"},{"id":"ipilimumab","kind":"drug","name":"Ipilimumab","route":"/drugs/ipilimumab/"},{"id":"nivolumab","kind":"drug","name":"Nivolumab","route":"/drugs/nivolumab/"},{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"pdl1-high-nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"PD-L1-high non-small-cell lung cancer without a driver mutation","route":"/cancers/pdl1-high-nsclc/"}]}}