Endogenous immunity at the forefront of tumor dormancy

[D.ap]

“There is accumulating evidence to suggest that the efficacy of many of the currently used anticancer agents depends on the active contribution of patients’ endogenous immunity. Harnessing the immune system to achieve therapeutic efficacy is achievable via standard therapies as well as treatments designed to target oncogenic pathways in tumor cells. Immunomodulating antibodies by specifically blocking immune checkpoint inhibitors reinvigorate and potentially expand endogenous anticancer immune responses. Such responses can be also amplified by vaccines, which boost naturally occurring antitumor immune responses. The inherent capacity of the immune system to recognize tumor antigens and to control cancer cell growth has a major impact on the balance between dormant tumor cells and tumor escape. This piece will focus on the endogenous anticancer immunity as a basis for potential application to cancer immunotherapy strategies and to immune-mediated metastatic dormancy.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5138018/

[D.ap]

The immunoediting hypothesis, as proposed by R Schreiber [1], provided the platform based on which studies, later on, confirmed the role of endogenous antitumor immunity both as prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Thus, the presence, location and density of T cells and cytokines within tumors was shown to be related with a better prognosis, hence emphasizing the ability of the immune response to maintain a subclinical tumor in an equilibrium state [2]. Furthermore, such intratumoral immune signatures were shown to predict the outcome of chemotherapy or neoadjuvant therapy in various types of cancers [3,4].

[D.ap]

immunoediting

“ Immunoediting is a dynamic process that consists of immunosurveillance and tumor progression. It describes the relation between the tumor cells and the immune system. It is made up of three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape”
- Wikipedia”