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The new anti-PD-1 inhibitor therapy, in essence, blocks the process that inhibits the immune system.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Use Body's Own Defenses
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But some tumor cells have proteins that bind to the PD-1 receptors, shutting the immune cell down.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Use Body's Own Defenses
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PD-1 "receptors" sit on the surface of immune-system cells when they're activated and on the hunt for enemies.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Use Body's Own Defenses
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The experimental agent called nivolumab and Merck's drug, known as MK-3475, each work against a different mechanism called PD-1.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Harness Power of Immune System
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The new studies were the initial human trials of the two PD-1 agents.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Use Body's Own Defenses
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This new approach is named after the PD-1 pathway for programmed death-1 which illustrates how the immune system and cancer cells inadvertently conspire to support some tumors.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Use Body's Own Defenses
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Merck's PD-1 blocker, being tested in melanoma patients, was recently given "breakthrough" designation by the Food and Drug Administration, which could speed its path through the regulatory process.
WSJ: New Cancer Drugs Harness Power of Immune System
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One of the studies it helped fund has led to a promising antibody-based treatment called anti-PD-1, which activates the immune system against cancer and helps shrink or eliminate tumors in melanoma, lung, and kidney cancer patients.
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