Erasha Atef M, El-Gendy Hanem, Aly Ahmed S, Fernández-Ortiz Marisol, Sayed Ramy K A
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sadat City University, Sadat City 32897, Egypt.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sadat City University, Sadat City 32897, Egypt.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Mar 18;26(6):2716. doi: 10.3390/ijms26062716.
Understanding how different contributors within the tumor microenvironment (TME) function and communicate is essential for effective cancer detection and treatment. The TME encompasses all the surroundings of a tumor such as blood vessels, fibroblasts, immune cells, signaling molecules, exosomes, and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Subsequently, effective cancer therapy relies on addressing TME alterations, known drivers of tumor progression, immune evasion, and metastasis. Immune cells and other cell types act differently under cancerous conditions, either driving or hindering cancer progression. For instance, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) include lymphocytes of B and T cell types that can invade malignancies, bringing in and enhancing the ability of immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Therefore, TILs display a promising approach to tackling the TME alterations and have the capability to significantly hinder cancer progression. Similarly, exosomes and inflammasomes exhibit a dual effect, resulting in either tumor progression or inhibition depending on the origin of exosomes, type of inflammasome and tumor. This review will explore how cells function in the presence of a tumor, the communication between cancer cells and immune cells, and the role of TILs, exosomes and inflammasomes within the TME. The efforts in this review are aimed at garnering interest in safer and durable therapies for cancer, in addition to providing a promising avenue for advancing cancer therapy and consequently improving survival rates.
了解肿瘤微环境（TME）中不同成分如何发挥功能以及相互交流，对于癌症的有效检测和治疗至关重要。TME包括肿瘤周围的所有物质，如血管、成纤维细胞、免疫细胞、信号分子、外泌体和细胞外基质（ECM）。因此，有效的癌症治疗依赖于解决TME的改变，这些改变是肿瘤进展、免疫逃逸和转移的已知驱动因素。免疫细胞和其他细胞类型在癌症状态下表现不同，要么促进要么阻碍癌症进展。例如，肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞（TIL）包括B细胞和T细胞类型的淋巴细胞，它们可以侵入恶性肿瘤，增强免疫系统识别和破坏癌细胞的能力。因此，TIL是解决TME改变的一种有前景的方法，并且有能力显著阻碍癌症进展。同样，外泌体和炎性小体表现出双重作用，根据外泌体的来源、炎性小体的类型和肿瘤的不同，可导致肿瘤进展或抑制。本综述将探讨细胞在肿瘤存在时的功能、癌细胞与免疫细胞之间的交流，以及TIL、外泌体和炎性小体在TME中的作用。本综述的努力旨在激发人们对更安全、持久的癌症治疗方法的兴趣，此外，还为推进癌症治疗从而提高生存率提供一条有前景的途径。
