title: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells and T regulatory cells in tumors: unraveling the dark side of the force.
abstract: Important conceptual advances in tumor immunology over the last years have shifted the paradigm from focusing on the malignant cell to the importance of host immune components in the design of successful immunotherapies. The immune system, through sophisticated innate and adaptive immune surveillance mechanisms, inhibits the growth and establishment of tumors. However, despite immune surveillance, tumors still escape and grow, mainly as a result of endowed tumor-induced immunosuppressive circuits. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are the major components of these regulatory networks that facilitate tumor immune escape and significantly compromise the efficacy of current immunotherapies. A better understanding of the induction, function, and expansion of these powerful regulatory compartments represents a major challenge on the clinical benefit of current treatments and may foster the design of novel cancer immunotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Transplantation, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Aikaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatziioannou
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Transplantation, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Themis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alissafi
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology and Transplantation, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece pverginis@bioacademy.gr.
authors.forename: Panayotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verginis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D000072737:Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D019139:Tumor Escape / Q000276:immunology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000276:immunology
keywords: immune evasion; tolerogenic mechanisms; tumor immunophenotype; tumor microenvironment