%0 Journal Article
%T IFN-¦Ã, IL-17 and TGF-¦Â involvement in shaping the tumor microenvironment: The significance of modulating such cytokines in treating malignant solid tumors
%A Heba A Alshaker
%A Khalid Z Matalka
%J Cancer Cell International
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2867-11-33
%X The failure of the immune system to recognize and eradicate cancer cells may partly be a result of insufficient immunological activation. It is now increasingly recognized that the microenvironment plays a critical role in the progression of tumors where immune-resistant tumor variants are selected initiating the process of cancer immunoediting. Tumor-derived soluble factors can impel various mechanisms for escape from immune attack in the tumor microenvironment [1,2]. The tumor microenvironment is a pivotal factor in the course of carcinogenesis and is largely dependent on its interactions with microenvironmental components in a bidirectional way and consequently tumor progression or regression [3,4].The tumor microenvironment was lately recognized as the product of a developing crosstalk between different cells types. In addition to tumor cells, the tumor microenvironment is comprised of immune cells, fibroblasts, stromal cells and the extracellular matrix [3]. Normal cellular microenvironment can inhibit tumor cell proliferation and cancer formation [4]. Contrariwise, as tissue becomes cancerous pathological interactions between cancer cells and host immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and lymphoid organs create an immunosuppressive network that protects the tumor from immune attack leading to tumor growth, progression as well as invasion and metastasis which is basically due to a deranged relationship between tumor and stromal cells [3-5]. In this review, we are stressing on the interface between infiltrated immune cells and tumor cells with the emphasis on the bidirectional activities of cytokines mainly IFN-¦Ã, TGF-¦Â and IL-17 within the tumor microenvironment and their role in shaping it. The aim, however, is to stress on the beneficial role of modulating such cytokines that favor anti-tumor activity and ultimately leads to eradicating solid tumors.As surveillance cells in the tumor microenvironment, dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer (NK), and natur
%K cytokines
%K transcription factors
%K crosstalk
%K tumor microenvironment
%U http://www.cancerci.com/content/11/1/33