Abstract
The efficacy of cancer immunotherapy relies on the ability of the host immune system to recognise the cancer as non-self and eliminate it from the body. Whilst this is an extremely fertile area of medical research, with positive clinical trials showing durable responses, attention must be paid to the subset of patients that do not respond to these treatments. Immune surveillance and immunoediting by the host could itself select for immune-evasive tumour cells during tumour development leading to immunotherapy resistance. One such mechanism of non-efficacy or resistance is the epigenetic silencing of a specific gene required in the immunotherapy response pathway. Epigenetics is the study of the control of expression patterns in a cell via mechanisms not involving a change in DNA sequence. All tumour types show aberrant epigenetic regulation of genes involved in all the hallmarks of cancer, including immunomodulation. Inhibition of key enzymes involved in maintenance of epigenetic states is another important area of research for new treatment strategies for cancer. Could epigenetic therapies be used to successfully enhance the action of immunomodulatory agents in cancer, and are they acting in the way we imagine? An understanding of the effects of epigenetic therapies on immunological pathways in both the tumour and host cells, especially the tumour microenvironment, will be essential to further develop such combination approaches.
Keywords: Cancer immunotherapy, immune-evasive tumour cells, immunomodulatory agents, tumour microenvironment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy.
Graphical Abstract
Current Cancer Drug Targets
Title:Is there a Role for Epigenetic Enhancement of Immunomodulatory Approaches to Cancer Treatment?
Volume: 18 Issue: 1
Author(s): Kirsty J. Flower, Sadaf Ghaem-Maghami and Robert Brown*
Affiliation:
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London,United Kingdom
Keywords: Cancer immunotherapy, immune-evasive tumour cells, immunomodulatory agents, tumour microenvironment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy.
Abstract: The efficacy of cancer immunotherapy relies on the ability of the host immune system to recognise the cancer as non-self and eliminate it from the body. Whilst this is an extremely fertile area of medical research, with positive clinical trials showing durable responses, attention must be paid to the subset of patients that do not respond to these treatments. Immune surveillance and immunoediting by the host could itself select for immune-evasive tumour cells during tumour development leading to immunotherapy resistance. One such mechanism of non-efficacy or resistance is the epigenetic silencing of a specific gene required in the immunotherapy response pathway. Epigenetics is the study of the control of expression patterns in a cell via mechanisms not involving a change in DNA sequence. All tumour types show aberrant epigenetic regulation of genes involved in all the hallmarks of cancer, including immunomodulation. Inhibition of key enzymes involved in maintenance of epigenetic states is another important area of research for new treatment strategies for cancer. Could epigenetic therapies be used to successfully enhance the action of immunomodulatory agents in cancer, and are they acting in the way we imagine? An understanding of the effects of epigenetic therapies on immunological pathways in both the tumour and host cells, especially the tumour microenvironment, will be essential to further develop such combination approaches.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Flower J. Kirsty, Ghaem-Maghami Sadaf and Brown Robert*, Is there a Role for Epigenetic Enhancement of Immunomodulatory Approaches to Cancer Treatment?, Current Cancer Drug Targets 2018; 18 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568009617666170206105131
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568009617666170206105131 |
Print ISSN 1568-0096 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-5576 |
Related Books
![](/images/wayfinder.jpg)
- Author Guidelines
- Bentham Author Support Services (BASS)
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
Related Articles
-
Current Status of Clinical Trials for Glioblastoma
Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials The Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and its Treatment on the Reproductive Process
Current Women`s Health Reviews Interleukin-6/interleukin-6 Receptor Pathway as a New Therapy Target in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Current Pharmaceutical Design Presence of Intratumoral Stem Cells in Breast Cancer Patients with or without BRCA Germline Mutations
Current Cancer Drug Targets ONCOFID™-P a Hyaluronic Acid Paclitaxel Conjugate for the Treatment of Refractory Bladder Cancer and Peritoneal Carcinosis
Current Bioactive Compounds Parthenogenetic Cell Lines: An Unstable Equilibrium Between Pluripotency and Malignant Transformation
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology HPV Viral Activity by mRNA-HPV Molecular Analysis to Screen the Transforming Infections in Precancer Cervical Lesions
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Serenoa Repens, Lycopene and Selenium: A Triple Therapeutic Approach to Manage Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Current Medicinal Chemistry Fine Tuning Antibody Conjugation Methods using SNAP-tag Technology
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Peptides as Therapeutic Agents or Drug Leads for Autoimmune, Hormone Dependent and Cardiovascular Diseases
Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Allergy Agents in Medicinal Chemistry The Immunohistochemical Expression of the E-Cadherin, Alpha-Catenin,Beta-Catenin and Gamma Catenin Proteins in Epithelial Ovarian Tumours: Relationship with Clinicopathologic Parameters and Patient Survival
Current Women`s Health Reviews Medicinal Chemistry of Selective Neurokinin-1 Antagonists
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Drug Delivery Systems for Photodynamic Therapy
Recent Patents on Drug Delivery & Formulation Subject Index To Volume 2
Current Women`s Health Reviews Eliminating Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Ovarian Cancer Chemoresistance
Current Protein & Peptide Science The Antiprogestogen Mifepristone: A Review
Current Medicinal Chemistry - Immunology, Endocrine & Metabolic Agents The mRNA-HPV Test Utilization in the Follow Up of HPV Related Cervical Lesions
Current Pharmaceutical Design Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers: A Focus on Genomic and Proteomic Findings
Current Genomics Circulating Advanced Oxidation Protein Products as Oxidative Stress Biomarkers and Progression Mediators in Pathological Conditions Related to Inflammation and Immune Dysregulation
Current Medicinal Chemistry In Search of Natural Remediation for Cervical Cancer
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry