Research status on immunotherapy trials of gastric cancer

Figure 1 Combined action mechanism of vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody and immune checkpoint inhibitor monoclonal antibody. A: Impacting on immune-related mechanisms via vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); B: VEGF receptor (VEGFR) monoclonal antibody (mAb) arouses the normalization of tumor blood vessels, the down-regulation of immunosuppressive cells, and the activity and infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Simultaneously, immune checkpoint inhibitor mAb restores the function of CTL to recognize tumor cells, thereby killing tumor cells and releasing immunogenic antigen. VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGFR: Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor; DC: Dendritic cells; CTL: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes; VCAM-1: Vascular endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1; MDSC: Myeloidderived inhibitor cells; TAM: Tumor-associated macrophages; Treg: Regulatory T; mAb: Monoclonal antibody; ICI: Immune checkpoint inhibitor. Figure 1 was produced with the assistance of Servier Medical Art (https://smart.servier.com), which provides free and open pictures.