The roles and applications of autoantibodies in progression, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of human malignant tumours

Publication date: Available online 16 October 2017 Source:Autoimmunity Reviews Author(s): Jing Wu, Xiaobo Li, Wuqi Song, Yong Fang, Li Yu, Siyuan Liu, Leonid P. Churilov, Fengmin Zhang The existence of autoantibodies towards an individual's own proteins or nucleic acids has been established for more than 100years, and for a long period, these autoantibodies have been believed to be closely associated with autoimmune diseases. However, in recent years, researchers have become more interested in the role and application of autoantibodies in progression, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of human malignant tumours. Over the past few decades, numerous epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of certain cancers is significantly altered (increased or decreased) in patients with autoimmune diseases, which suggests that autoantibodies may play either promoting or suppressing roles in cancer progression. The idea that autoantibodies are directly involved in tumour progression gains special support by the findings that some antibodies secreted by a variety of cancer cells can promote their proliferation and metastasis. Because the cancer cells generate cell antigenic changes (neoantigens), which trigger the immune system to produce autoantibodies, serum autoantibodies against tumour-associated antigens have been established as a novel type of cancer biomarkers and have been extensively studied in different types of cancer. The autoantibodies as biomarkers in cancer d...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research