Myc and Ras, the Bonnie and Clyde of immune evasion

Abstract

The ability of different oncogenes to cooperate effectively with each other in promoting tumor growth has long been a major focus of research. Until recently it was thought that oncogenes, including Ras and Myc , contributed to tumor proliferation and survival only through tumor cell-intrinsic mechanisms. However, it is now evident that oncogenes not only drive relentless cell division and corollary intracellular programs, but also contribute to the instruction of the tumor microenvironment. The latter is intimately related to immune evasion—the mechanism through which cancer cells avoid host immune surveillance mechanisms—by inducing an immunosuppressive microenvironment and immune edition.