Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Department of Cancer and Inflammation Research, Institute for Molecular Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Life Sci. 2020 Sep 1;256:118005. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118005. Epub 2020 Jun 25.
Cancer is the second cause of mortality in the world after cardiovascular disease. Various studies attribute the emergence of therapeutic resistance in tumors to the presence of cancer stem cells or cancer-initiating cells (CSC/CIC). These relatively rare cells because of their typical stemness features, are responsible for tumor cell progression and recurrence. Moreover, CSCs have immunomodulatory capabilities and through orchestrating, some immunological profiles can stay safe from host anticancer immunity, and provide immunotherapy resistance in cancer patients. Many studies have shown that CSCs by producing immune system inhibitory factors and interacting with immune checkpoint molecules like CD47, PDL-1, CTLA4, Tim3, and LAG3, are able to communicate with tumor microenvironment (TME) components and protect cancer cells from immune clearance. In this review, we summarize the CSCs immunological mechanisms and comprehensively discuss interactions between these cells and factors that are present in the TME to repress immune system responses and enhance tumor survival. Therefore, it seems that further studies on this topic will open new doors to improve the therapeutic approaches of malignant cancers.
癌症是心血管疾病之后导致全球死亡的第二大原因。各种研究将肿瘤治疗耐药性的出现归因于癌症干细胞或癌症起始细胞（CSC/CIC）的存在。这些相对罕见的细胞由于其典型的干细胞特征，负责肿瘤细胞的进展和复发。此外，CSCs 具有免疫调节能力，通过协调某些免疫谱，可以免受宿主抗癌免疫的影响，并为癌症患者提供免疫治疗耐药性。许多研究表明，CSCs 通过产生免疫系统抑制因子，并与 CD47、PDL-1、CTLA4、Tim3 和 LAG3 等免疫检查点分子相互作用，能够与肿瘤微环境（TME）成分进行通信，并保护癌细胞免受免疫清除。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 CSCs 的免疫学机制，并全面讨论了这些细胞与 TME 中存在的因素之间的相互作用，这些因素抑制免疫系统的反应并增强肿瘤的存活。因此，似乎对这一主题的进一步研究将为改善恶性癌症的治疗方法开辟新的途径。
