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Interferon α in cancer immunoediting: From elimination to escape
Author(s) -
Vidal Paolo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/sji.12863
Subject(s) - immunoediting , immune system , cancer , immunotherapy , interferon , immunology , biology , stimulator of interferon genes , immunosurveillance , cytokine , cancer research , medicine , innate immune system , genetics
Interferon α (IFNα) is a cytokine that mediates diverse immune responses to tumours. It is the oldest immune‐based oncologic drug and has been widely used to treat various malignancies in humans. Yet, the use of IFNα in cancer therapy has only resulted in limited success and even led to worse clinical outcomes under certain instances. The emergence of the cancer immunoediting concept—which implicates the host immune system in promoting tumour growth—recapitulates the need to evaluate the immune functions of IFNα. This review proposes that IFNα has dual opposing roles in cancer development based on the mutational status of its signalling components, which determines the expression of anti‐ or pro‐tumorigenic IFN‐stimulated genes (ISGs). This duality may translate into new applications of IFNα in cancer immunotherapy.