Immune Regulation of Cancer

TLDR

The immune system can both suppress and promote cancer growth, with antitumor immune signatures and infiltrating T‑cell subsets associated with better outcomes across multiple tumor types. The study aims to evaluate immune‑based therapies for their capacity to modulate the tumor microenvironment. These therapies work by recruiting immune cells that trigger acute inflammation, leading to tumor tissue destruction.

Abstract

Innate and adaptive immune system cells play a major role in regulating the growth of cancer. Although it is commonly thought that an immune response localized to the tumor will inhibit cancer growth, it is clear that some types of inflammation induced in a tumor may also lead to cancer proliferation, invasion, and dissemination. Recent evidence suggests, however, that some patients with cancer can mount an antitumor immune response that has the potential to control or eliminate cancer. Indeed, a so-called "immune response" signature has been described in malignancy that is associated with improved outcomes in several tumor types. Moreover, the presence of specific subsets of T cells, which have the capability to penetrate tumor stroma and infiltrate deep into the parenchyma, identifies patients with an improved prognosis. Immune-based therapies have the potential to modulate the tumor microenvironment by eliciting immune system cells that will initiate acute inflammation that leads to tissue destruction.