ABSTRACT
One of the main mechanisms of tumorigenesis and development is silencing of the patient's immune response to cancer-specific antigens.The defect of cancer immune surveillance may occur at any stage of tumor progression.In the tumor micro-environment,the abnormal expression of the immune checkpoint molecules that have an activation or inhibition effect on T lymphocytes can cause immune tolerance or escape of tumor cells.Targeted immune checkpoint molecules such as PD-1(programmed cell death protein 1)and its ligand PD-L1,have been shown to be new directions for the treatment of many types of cancer.microRNAs(miR-NAs)play an important role in tumor microenvironment.Studies have shown that miRNAs are highly expressed in some tumors and play an important role in immune response,especially in early regulation.Therefore,miRNAs may be ideal candidates for the regula-tion of immune checkpoints in cancer therapy.The abnormal expression of multiple miRNAs in cancer cells provides new opportunities for cancer therapy,but the exact function of these miRNAs and their interaction with immune checkpoints are still in the exploratory phase.This review summarizes the recent findings regarding the use of miRNAs as molecular regulators of immune checkpoints and their potential applications in the treatment of cancer in clinical practice.