癌症中免疫细胞的表观遗传标志

Targeting the dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms in cancer has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. Although the significant rationale progress of epigenetic therapies in blocking cancer cells, how epigenetic regulation shapes tumor microenvironment (TME) and establishes antitumor immunity remains less understood.

Recent study focus has been put on the epigenetic-mediated changes in the fate of immune cells, including the differentiation, expansion, recruitment, functionalization, and exhaustion of T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), dendritic cells (DCs), myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and B cells within the TME.

Here, we review the latest molecular and clinical insights into how DNA modifications, histone modification, and epitranscriptome-related regulations shape immune cells of various cancers.

We also discuss opportunities for leveraging epigenetic therapies to improve cancer immunotherapies. This review provides the epigenetic foundations of cancer immunity and proposes the future direction of combination therapies.