title: Role of IL-2 in cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is one of the key cytokines with pleiotropic effects on immune system. It has been approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma. Recent progress has been made in our understanding of IL-2 in regulating lymphocytes that has led to exciting new directions for cancer immunotherapy. While improved IL-2 formulations might be used as monotherapies, their combination with other anticancer immunotherapies, such as adoptive cell transfer regimens, antigen-specific vaccination, and blockade of immune checkpoint inhibitory molecules, for example cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) mono-antibodies, would held the promise of treating metastatic cancer. Despite the comprehensive studies of IL-2 on immune system have established the application of IL-2 for cancer immunotherapy, a number of poignant obstacles remain for future research. In the present review, we will focus on the key biological features of IL-2, current applications, limitations, and future directions of IL-2 in cancer immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai, P.R. of China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai, P.R. of China.
authors.forename: Caicun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai, P.R. of China.
authors.forename: Shengxiang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ren
keywords: Cancer; combined therapy; cytokine; immunotherapy; interleukin-2