Open AccessImmunological battlefield in gastric cancer and role of immunotherapies
Author(s) -
Minyu Wang,
Rita A. Busuttil,
Sharon Pattison,
Paul J. Neeson,
Alex Boussioutas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.v22.i28.6373
Subject(s) - immune system , battlefield , cancer , immunology , cancer cell , immune escape , adversary , biology , medicine , history , computer security , computer science , ancient history , genetics
Like the wars predating the First World War where human foot soldiers were deemed tools in the battlefield against an enemy, so too are the host immune cells of a patient battling a malignant gastric cancer. Indeed, the tumour microenvironment resembles a battlefield, where the patient's immune cells are the defence against invading tumour cells. However, the relationship between different immune components of the host response to cancer is more complex than an "us against them" model. Components of the immune system inadvertently work against the interests of the host and become pro-tumourigenic while other components soldier on against the common enemy - the tumour cell.