Koulouridi Asimina, Messaritakis Ippokratis, Gouvas Nikolaos, Tsiaoussis John, Souglakos John
Laboratory of Translational Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Greece.
Medical School, University of Cyprus, 20537 Nicosia, Cyprus.
Cancers (Basel). 2020 Dec 25;13(1):43. doi: 10.3390/cancers13010043.
Over the last few years, immunotherapy has been considered as a key player in the treatment of solid tumors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the breakthrough treatment, with prolonged responses and improved survival results. ICIs use the immune system to defeat cancer by breaking the axes that allow tumors to escape immune surveillance. Innate and adaptive immunity are involved in mechanisms against tumor growth. The gut microbiome and its role in such mechanisms is a relatively new study field. The presence of a high microbial variation in the gut seems to be remarkably important for the efficacy of immunotherapy, interfering with innate immunity. Metabolic and immunity pathways are related with specific gut microbiota composition. Various studies have explored the composition of gut microbiota in correlation with the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients have gained little benefit from immunotherapy until now. Only mismatch repair-deficient/microsatellite-unstable tumors seem to respond positively to immunotherapy. However, gut microbiota could be the key to expanding the use of immunotherapy to a greater range of CRC patients.
在过去几年中，免疫疗法一直被视为实体瘤治疗的关键手段。免疫检查点抑制剂（ICIs）已成为突破性治疗方法，具有延长的反应时间和改善的生存结果。ICIs通过打破使肿瘤逃避免疫监视的轴来利用免疫系统对抗癌症。固有免疫和适应性免疫参与了对抗肿瘤生长的机制。肠道微生物群及其在这些机制中的作用是一个相对较新的研究领域。肠道中存在高度的微生物多样性似乎对免疫疗法的疗效非常重要，它会干扰固有免疫。代谢和免疫途径与特定的肠道微生物群组成有关。各种研究已经探讨了肠道微生物群的组成与免疫疗法有效性之间的相关性。到目前为止，结直肠癌（CRC）患者从免疫疗法中获益甚微。只有错配修复缺陷/微卫星不稳定的肿瘤似乎对免疫疗法有积极反应。然而，肠道微生物群可能是将免疫疗法扩大应用于更多CRC患者的关键。
