The PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint axis possesses both beneficial and harmful properties, e.g., it confers immunosuppressive protection in autoimmune diseases, whereas in cancers and fibrotic diseases it provides an immune escape mechanism for abnormal cells to avoid immunosurveillance (Francisco et al. 2010; Toor et al. 2020; Zhao et al. 2023). Here, CD274 is linked to cancer.