Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Oct 18;10(1):151-164.
doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2021.09.006. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Inflammation and cancer: paradoxical roles in tumorigenesis and implications in immunotherapies

Xinghan Liu  1 , Lijie Yin  2 , Sunan Shen  1   2 , Yayi Hou  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Inflammation and cancer: paradoxical roles in tumorigenesis and implications in immunotherapies

Xinghan Liu et al. Genes Dis. .

Abstract

Chronic inflammation caused by persistent infections and metabolic disorders is thought to contribute to the increased cancer risk and the accelerated cancer progression. Oppositely, acute inflammation induced by bacteria-based vaccines or that is occurring after cancer selectively inhibits cancer progression and metastasis. However, the interaction between inflammation and cancer may be more complex than the current explanations for the relationship between chronic and acute inflammation and cancer. In this review, we described the impact of inflammation on cancer on the basis of three perspectives, including inflammation with different durations (chronic and acute inflammation), different scopes (systemic and local inflammation) and different occurrence sequences (inflammation occurring after and before cancer). In addition, we also introduced bacteria/virus-based cancer immunotherapies. We perceive that inflammation may be a double-edged sword with cancer-promoting and cancer-suppressing functions in certain cases. We expect to further improve the understanding of the relationship between inflammation and cancer and provide a theoretical basis for further research on their complex interaction.

Keywords: Cancer; Duration; Inflammation; Scope; Sequence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Figure 1
The impact of inflammation on cancer. Inflammation may exert either a potent pro-cancer function or may inhibit cancer progression and metastatic spread, depending on the duration, scope and sequence of inflammation. (A) Several inflammatory conditions promoted cancer progression if inflammation occurred before cancer; (B) Several inflammatory conditions inhibited cancer progression if inflammation occurred after cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sharma A., Schwartz R.A., Swan K.G. Marjolin's warty ulcer. J Surg Oncol. 2011;103(2):193–195. - PubMed
    1. Balkwill F., Mantovani A. Inflammation and cancer: back to Virchow? Lancet. 2001;357(9255):539–545. - PubMed
    1. Dvorak H.F. Tumors: wounds that do not heal. Similarities between tumor stroma generation and wound healing. N Engl J Med. 1986;315(26):1650–1659. - PubMed
    1. Koehne C.H., Dubois R.N. COX-2 inhibition and colorectal cancer. Semin Oncol. 2004;31(2 Suppl 7):12–21. - PubMed
    1. Flossmann E., Rothwell P.M. Effect of aspirin on long-term risk of colorectal cancer: consistent evidence from randomised and observational studies. Lancet. 2007;369(9573):1603–1613. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources