Avila Jonathan Peña, Carvalho Bruno Melo, Coimbra Eliane Campos
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Pernambuco (ICB/UPE), Rua Arnóbio Marques, 310, Santo Amaro, Recife 50100-130, PE, Brazil.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Feb 20;15(4):1333. doi: 10.3390/cancers15041333.
Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, with more than 500,000 new cases each year and a mortality rate of around 55%. Over 80% of these deaths occur in developing countries. The most important risk factor for CC is persistent infection by a sexually transmitted virus, the human papillomavirus (HPV). Conventional treatments to eradicate this type of cancer are accompanied by high rates of resistance and a large number of side effects. Hence, it is crucial to devise novel effective therapeutic strategies. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have aimed to develop immunotherapeutic methods for treating cancer. However, these strategies have not proven to be effective enough to combat CC. This means there is a need to investigate immune molecular targets. An adaptive immune response against cancer has been described in seven key stages or steps defined as the cancer-immunity cycle (CIC). The CIC begins with the release of antigens by tumor cells and ends with their destruction by cytotoxic T-cells. In this paper, we discuss several molecular alterations found in each stage of the CIC of CC. In addition, we analyze the evidence discovered, the molecular mechanisms and their relationship with variables such as histological subtype and HPV infection, as well as their potential impact for adopting novel immunotherapeutic approaches.
宫颈癌（CC）是全球女性中第四大常见癌症，每年新增病例超过50万，死亡率约为55%。其中超过80%的死亡发生在发展中国家。宫颈癌最重要的风险因素是性传播病毒人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）的持续感染。根除这类癌症的传统治疗伴随着高耐药率和大量副作用。因此，设计新的有效治疗策略至关重要。近年来，越来越多的研究旨在开发治疗癌症的免疫治疗方法。然而，这些策略尚未证明对对抗宫颈癌足够有效。这意味着有必要研究免疫分子靶点。针对癌症的适应性免疫反应已在被定义为癌症免疫循环（CIC）的七个关键阶段或步骤中得到描述。癌症免疫循环始于肿瘤细胞释放抗原，终于细胞毒性T细胞对它们的破坏。在本文中，我们讨论了在宫颈癌癌症免疫循环各阶段发现的几种分子改变。此外，我们分析了所发现的证据、分子机制及其与组织学亚型和HPV感染等变量的关系，以及它们对采用新型免疫治疗方法的潜在影响。
