＜Editors' Choice＞ Meddling with meddlers: curbing regulatory T cells and augmenting antitumor immunity.

＜Editors' Choice＞ Meddling with meddlers: curbing regulatory T cells and augmenting antitumor immunity. Nagoya J Med Sci. 2019 Feb;81(1):1-18 Authors: Kochin V, Nishikawa H Abstract CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) expressing the transcription factor forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) play an important role in self-tolerance and immune homeostasis. Tregs have evolved to protect the host from aberrant immune responses against self-components and collateral damages occurring in the process of defense against invading pathogens by softening immune responses. However, they turned to be a scourge in malignant tumors by not only allowing and promoting tumor growth but also suppressing effective antitumor actions, both inherent (host's immune surveillance) and extrinsic (anticancer therapy). An increase in the number of Tregs infiltrating into tumor sites and a concomitant decrease in the number of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes are associated with a poor prognosis for various types of cancers, marking Tregs as notorious meddlers with an effective antitumor response. Various cancer immunotherapy approaches are often dampened by meddling Tregs, making them one of the major targets in the treatment of cancer. The recent success of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that target immune checkpoint molecules expressed by Tregs or effector T cells implies, that "meddling with meddlers" represents an effective strategy in cancer immunotherapy. However, clin...
Source: Nagoya Journal of Medical Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Nagoya J Med Sci Source Type: research