结肠直肠癌是男女都很常见的第二大癌症，在年轻人中的发病率也越来越高，尽管治疗取得了进展，但仍有多达一半的患者会发生转移。免疫疗法包括不同形式的治疗方法，已在许多方面彻底改变了癌症治疗。单克隆抗体、嵌合抗原受体（CAR）T细胞受体基因修饰T细胞以及免疫接种和/或疫苗是用于癌症治疗的不同免疫疗法。类似CheckMate 142和KEYNOTE-177这样的大规模试验已经证明了免疫检查点抑制剂（ICI）的疗效。ICIs药物通过针对细胞毒性T淋巴细胞相关蛋白4（CTLA-4）、程序性细胞死亡蛋白1（PD-1）和程序性死亡配体1（PD-L1），现在已成为dMMR/MSI-H转移性结直肠癌的一线治疗药物。然而，在早期临床研究的初步结果中，ICIs正在成为肿瘤可手术的原发性结肠癌和直肠癌治疗中的一种新方法，但尚未被广泛采用。但是，随着一些问题的得到解答，更多的问题和挑战也随之而来。在这篇综述性文章中，我们旨在概述不同的免疫疗法治疗癌症的方式，重点介绍ICI及其与CRC的相关性，描述免疫疗法的一些进展、潜在机制和一些问题，并为未来的研究方向提出建议。

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most frequent cancer in both men and women, and of concern increasing in the younger population. Despite the progress in treatment, still up to half of CRC patients will develop metastasis. Immunotherapy consists of an arsenal of different managements that in many aspects has revolutionized cancer therapy. Monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell receptor gene modified T-cells and immunization and/or vaccination are different immunotherapies used in cancer treatment. Large trials in metastatic CRC, such as CheckMate 142 and KEYNOTE-177, have proven the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). The ICI drugs, targeting the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) are now part of first-line treatment of dMMR/MSI-H metastatic CRC. However, ICIs are gaining a novel role in management of primary operable CRC after preliminary results from early-phase clinical studies in both colon and rectal cancer. Neoadjuvant ICI in operable colon and rectal cancer is hence becoming a clinical reality, while not quite yet adopted as a routine use. However, with some answers comes more questions and challenges. In this review article we aim to give an overview over different modes of immunotherapy to treat cancer with an emphasis on ICIs and their relevance to CRC, describe some of the progresses made in immunotherapy overall, with potential mechanisms, some of the concerns and, some highlight for the way forward.