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Review
. 2023 Aug 31:4:100068.
doi: 10.1016/j.crimmu.2023.100068. eCollection 2023.

Role of chemotherapeutic drugs in immunomodulation of cancer

Oishi Mukherjee  1 , Sudeshna Rakshit  1 , Geetha Shanmugam  1 , Koustav Sarkar  1
Affiliations
Review

Role of chemotherapeutic drugs in immunomodulation of cancer

Oishi Mukherjee et al. Curr Res Immunol. .

Abstract

The immune system has a variety of potential effects on a tumor microenvironment and the course of chemotherapy may vary according to that. Anticancer treatments can encourage the release of unwanted signals from senescent tumor cells or the removal of immune-suppressive cells, which can lead to immune system activation. Hence, by inducing an immunological response and conversely making cancer cells more vulnerable to immune attack, chemotherapeutic agents can destroy cancer cells. Furthermore, chemotherapy can activate anticancer immune effectors directly or indirectly by thwarting immunosuppressive pathways. Therefore, in this review, we discuss how chemotherapeutic agents take part in immunomodulation and the molecular mechanisms underlying them. We also focus on the importance of carefully addressing the conflicting effects of chemotherapy on immune responses when developing successful combination treatments based on chemotherapy and immune modulators.

Keywords: Anticancer treatment; Chemotherapy; Immune system; Immunomodulation; Immunosuppressive pathways.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Effects of different types of chemotherapeutic agents on various cellular activity.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Different chemotherapeutic agents affecting signaling pathways that take part in immunomodulation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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