Far Beyond Cancer Immunotherapy: Reversion of Multi-Malignant Phenotypes of Immunotherapeutic-Resistant Cancer by Targeting the NANOG Signaling Axis
- Author:
Se Jin OH
1
;
Jaeyoon LEE
;
Yukang KIM
;
Kwon Ho SONG
;
Eunho CHO
;
Minsung KIM
;
Heejae JUNG
;
Tae Woo KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Review
- From:Immune Network 2020;20(1):e7-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: Cancer immunotherapy, in the form of vaccination, adoptive cellular transfer, or immune checkpoint inhibitors, has emerged as a promising practice within the field of oncology. However, despite the developing field's potential to revolutionize cancer treatment, the presence of immunotherapeutic-resistant tumor cells in many patients present a challenge and limitation to these immunotherapies. These cells not only indicate immunotherapeutic resistance, but also show multi-modal resistance to conventional therapies, abnormal metabolism, stemness, and metastasis. How can immunotherapeutic-resistant tumor cells render multi-malignant phenotypes? We reasoned that the immune-refractory phenotype could be associated with multi-malignant phenotypes and that these phenotypes are linked together by a factor that acts as the master regulator. In this review, we discussed the role of the embryonic transcription factor NANOG as a crucial master regulator we named “common factor†in multi-malignant phenotypes and presented strategies to overcome multi-malignancy in immunotherapeutic-resistant cancer by restraining the NANOG-mediated multi-malignant signaling axis. Strategies that blunt the NANOG axis could improve the clinical management of therapy-refractory cancer.
