title: The two faces of interferon-γ in cancer.
abstract: Interferon-γ is a cytokine whose biological activity is conventionally associated with cytostatic/cytotoxic and antitumor mechanisms during cell-mediated adaptive immune response. It has been used clinically to treat a variety of malignancies, albeit with mixed results and side effects that can be severe. Despite ample evidence implicating a role for IFN-γ in tumor immune surveillance, a steady flow of reports has suggested that it may also have protumorigenic effects under certain circumstances. We propose that, in fact, IFN-γ treatment is a double-edged sword whose anti- and protumorigenic activities are dependent on the cellular, microenvironmental, and/or molecular context. As such, inhibition of the IFN-γ/IFN-γ receptor pathway may prove to be a viable new therapeutic target for a subset of malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Genetics, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. zaidir@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: M Raza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merlino
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D017471:Receptors, Interferon / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma; D017471:Receptors, Interferon; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor