CD137, an attractive candidate for the immunotherapy of lung cancer

Immunotherapy has become a hotspot in cancer therapy in recent years. Several immune checkpoints inhibitors have been used to treat lung cancer. CD137 is a kind of costimulatory molecule that mediates T cell activation, which regulates the activity of immune cells in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Targeting CD137 or its ligand (CD137L) has been studied, aiming to enhance anticancer immune responses. Accumulating studies show that anti‐CD137 mAbs alone or combined with other drugs have bright antitumor prospects. In the following, we reviewed the biology of CD137, the antitumor effects of anti‐CD137 Ab monotherapy and the combined therapy in lung cancer.