Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212001, China.
Digestive Disease Institute of Jiangsu University, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212001, China.
Int J Biol Sci. 2024 Sep 9;20(12):4799-4818. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.96338. eCollection 2024.
The incidence and mortality of digestive system-related cancers have always been high and attributed to the heterogeneity and complexity of the immune microenvironment of the digestive system. Furthermore, several studies have shown that chronic inflammation in the digestive system is responsible for cancer incidence; therefore, controlling inflammation is a potential strategy to stop the development of cancer. Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC) represent a heterogeneous group of lymphocytes that exist in contrast to T cells. They function by interacting with cytokines and immune cells in an antigen-independent manner. In the digestive system cancer, from the inflammatory phase to the development, migration, and metastasis of tumors, ILC have been found to interact with the immune microenvironment and either control or promote these processes. The conventional treatments for digestive tumors have limited efficacy, therefore, ILC-associated immunotherapies are promising strategies. This study reviews the characterization of different ILC subpopulations, how they interact with and influence the immune microenvironment as well as chronic inflammation, and their promotional or inhibitory role in four common digestive system tumors, including pancreatic, colorectal, gastric, and hepatocellular cancers. In particular, the review emphasizes the role of ILC in associating chronic inflammation with cancer and the potential for enhanced immunotherapy with cytokine therapy and adoptive immune cell therapy.
消化系统相关癌症的发病率和死亡率一直居高不下，这归因于消化系统免疫微环境的异质性和复杂性。此外，有几项研究表明，消化系统的慢性炎症是癌症发病的原因；因此，控制炎症是阻止癌症发展的一种潜在策略。固有淋巴细胞（ILC）代表了一组不同于 T 细胞的异质性淋巴细胞。它们通过与细胞因子和免疫细胞非抗原依赖性相互作用来发挥功能。在消化系统癌症中，从炎症阶段到肿瘤的发展、迁移和转移，已经发现 ILC 与免疫微环境相互作用，控制或促进这些过程。传统的消化系统肿瘤治疗方法疗效有限，因此，ILC 相关的免疫疗法是很有前途的策略。本研究综述了不同 ILC 亚群的特征，以及它们如何与免疫微环境和慢性炎症相互作用，并影响其功能，以及它们在四种常见的消化系统肿瘤（包括胰腺癌、结直肠癌、胃癌和肝细胞癌）中促进或抑制肿瘤的作用。特别是，本综述强调了 ILC 在将慢性炎症与癌症联系起来的作用，以及通过细胞因子治疗和过继免疫细胞治疗增强免疫疗法的潜力。
