Hypoxic tumors and their effect on immune cells and cancer therapy.
The abnormal decrease or the lack of oxygen supply to cells and tissues is called hypoxia. This condition is commonly seen in various diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis, also in solid cancers. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that hypoxic cancers are extremely aggressive, resistant to standard therapies (chemotherapy and radiotherapy), and thus very difficult to eradicate. Hypoxia affects both the tumor and the immune cells via various pathways. This review summarizes the most common effects of hypoxia on immune cells that play a key role in the anti-tumor response, the limitation of current therapies, and the potential solutions that were developed for hypoxic malignancies.
Yotnda
Patricia
P
Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, 77030, Houston, TX, USA. pyotnda@bcm.tmc.edu
Wu
Danli
D
Swanson
Anna May
AM
D000818:Animals; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*