Th17细胞在恶性肿瘤中作用的研究进展

Advanced progress of Th17 cell in malignant tumors

辅助性T细胞17(Th17)是由特征性分泌IL-17和其他炎性细胞因子的辅助T细胞的一个特殊亚群,与经典的Th1/Th2细胞相比,Th17细胞表现出更强的不稳定性和可塑性,并参与了炎性疾病、自身免疫性疾病和肿瘤的发展过程。Th17细胞既可以通过刺激血管形成和抑制免疫活性促进肿瘤生成,又可以通过改变自身表型和分泌相关因子抑制肿瘤生成。研究显示,乳腺癌患者IL-17高表达与患者预后呈负相关1;而肺癌患者外周血中Th17细胞数增多者预后越好2。因此,Th17细胞在肿瘤发展过程中起着双重作用,确切作用机制有待进一步研究。本文简要综述了Th17细胞的分化调节过程及Th17细胞在恶性肿瘤发生发展中的作用及最新进展,旨在为恶性肿瘤的免疫治疗提供新的思路。

T helper cell 17(Th17)is a specific subset of T helper lymphocytes determined by high secretion of IL-17 and other inflammatory cytokines.Compared with the typical Th1/Th2 cells,Th17 cells show stronger instability and plasticity,and play a part in different diseases,including infectious diseases,autoimmune disorders and cancer.Th17 cells increase tumor progression by activating angiogenesis and immunosuppressive activities.They can also mediate antitumor immune responses through changing their own phenotype and secreting related factors.Recent studies show that the infiltration of Th17 cells is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer[1].In contrast,infiltration of Th17 cells notably enhanced survival in lung cancer patients[2].So Th17 cells are supposed as a double-edged sword in cancer.Further studies will be needed to advance our understanding of the role of Th17 cells in the immunopathogenesis of individual cancers.This article briefly reviews the differentiation and regulation of Th17 cells,the role and the latest progress of Th17 cells in the development of malignant tumors,in order to provide the improvement of more helpful ways for cancer immunotherapy.