Di Franco Simone, Turdo Alice, Todaro Matilde, Stassi Giorgio
Cellular and Molecular Pathophysiology Laboratory, Department of Surgical, Oncological and Stomatological Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Central Laboratory of Advanced Diagnosis and Biomedical Research (CLADIBIOR), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Front Immunol. 2017 Jul 26;8:878. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00878. eCollection 2017.
Cancer can be considered an aberrant organ with a hierarchical composition of different cell populations. The tumor microenvironment, including the immune cells and related cytokines, is crucial during all the steps of tumor development. In particular, type I and II interferons (IFNs) are involved in a plethora of mechanisms that regulate immune responses in cancer, thus balancing immune escape immune surveillance. IFNs are involved in both the direct and indirect regulation of cancer cell proliferation and metastatic potential. The mutational background of genes involved in IFNs signaling could serve as a prognostic biomarker and a powerful tool to screen cancer patients eligible for checkpoint blocking therapies. We herewith describe the latest findings regarding the contribution of IFNs in colorectal cancer and melanoma by researching their dual role as either tumor promoter or suppressor, in diverse tumor types, and microenvironmental context. We are reporting the most innovative and promising approaches of IFN-based therapies that have achieved considerable outcomes in clinical oncology practice and explain the possible mechanisms responsible for their failure.
癌症可被视为一种具有不同细胞群体分层组成的异常器官。肿瘤微环境，包括免疫细胞和相关细胞因子，在肿瘤发展的所有阶段都至关重要。特别是，I型和II型干扰素（IFN）参与了众多调节癌症免疫反应的机制，从而平衡免疫逃逸和免疫监视。IFN既参与癌细胞增殖和转移潜能的直接调节，也参与间接调节。参与IFN信号传导的基因的突变背景可作为一种预后生物标志物，以及筛选适合检查点阻断疗法的癌症患者的有力工具。我们在此通过研究IFN在不同肿瘤类型和微环境背景下作为肿瘤促进剂或抑制剂的双重作用，描述关于IFN在结直肠癌和黑色素瘤中作用的最新发现。我们报告了基于IFN的疗法最具创新性和前景的方法，这些方法在临床肿瘤学实践中取得了可观的成果，并解释了其失败的可能机制。
