MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1643421
Advances in PD-1/PD-L1 pathway inhibitors in the treatment of thyroid cancer: mechanisms and clinical therapeutic perspectives
Provisionally accepted
- 1Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 2Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 3Guanghua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, shang hai, China
- 4Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nan JING, China
- 5Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nan JING, China
- 6Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nan Jing, China
- 7Nanjing Hospital of Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 8Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Nan Jing, China
- 9Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, Nan JING, China
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Cancer of the thyroid is a endocrine cancer. Although most patients achieve favorable outcomes with surgical resection, radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy, a subset progresses to advanced or refractory disease. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway reactivate T cells, enabling them to identify and eradicate malignant cells, thus reinstating immune surveillance against tumors.This review examines PD-L1 (Programmed Death-Ligand 1) expression in thyroid cancer, exploring its underlying regulatory mechanisms. It also discusses recent advances in PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) therapy. Furthermore, the review highlights regulatory pathways modulating PD-1/PD-L1 expression, including the mTOR pathway, androgen receptor (AR), and the CKS1B/STAT3 pathway. Notably, it summarizes recent clinical developments, such as combination regimens pairing PD-L1 blockade with mutation-targeted therapies, for which the median OS of the targeted combination therapy group was 14.7 months. This therapy has achieved the longest median OS for ATC patients so far. Additionally, the review examines innovative treatment modalities, offering a thorough synthesis of the existing state and emerging trends in PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies.
Keywords: thyroid cancer, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, targeted therapy, Immunotherapy, review
Received: 08 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Gao, Shan, Zhang, Tan, Yu and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiangyi Yu, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu Province, Nan JING, China
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