Cytokine-based Cancer Immunotherapy: Current Progress and Future Prospects

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Because of the critical roles of cytokines in cancer, there has been considerable interest in harnessing them for diagnosis and treatment over the past decades. Sherlyn Zhou (pictured), Product Manager for Sino Biological in the USA, tells The Pharma Letter about the role that they play in cancer and the opportunities and challenges in the field.

"Cytokines are molecular messengers released by cells to regulate cell interactions and communications," she said. "As potent and complex immune mediators, they may either promote tumor growth and spread or mediate the antitumor immune responses. Elevated levels of various cytokines, such as IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, FGF, and G-CSF, have been found in biosamples of cancer patients. During cancer formation, cancer cells release various cytokines and growth factors and recruit and reprogram other types of cells into their surroundings to establish a tumor microenvironment (TME) conducive to cancer growth. These cytokines may also induce normal cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages and endothelial cells, to produce additional cytokines that support the pathological process.