Christin L. Melton, ELS

The early development of PARP inhibitors in 2003 focused on their use in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy agents, but this was eventually abandoned because of excess toxicity.

Investigators across the globe have expended considerable effort attempting to identify mechanisms of response and resistance to ICIs. The general conclusion is that each patient’s response to immunotherapy is likely complex and highly individualized.

Despite their promise, checkpoint inhibitors are not effective in every patient, and research suggests the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway may hold important clues as to why some tumors fail to respond.