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Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
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Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells

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The role of transforming growth factor-beta in immune suppression and chronic inflammation of squamous cell

Alexander A Strait1, Xiao-Jing Wang1,2

  • 1Department of Pathology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.

Molecular Carcinogenesis
|April 18, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) suppresses antitumor immunity in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Inhibiting TGFβ may improve immunotherapy response rates in SCC patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) show stagnant survival rates despite declining incidence.
  • Current immunotherapies offer limited response rates in SCC patients.
  • Transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) is known to suppress antitumor immune responses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the role of TGFβ in immune suppression within SCC.
  • To explore TGFβ as a therapeutic target in combination with existing immunotherapies for SCC.
  • To establish SCC as a model for studying TGFβ inhibition efficacy.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of TGFβ's function in SCC immunology.
  • Analysis of TGFβ signaling pathways in SCC.
  • Evaluation of potential combination therapies involving TGFβ inhibitors and immunotherapies.

Main Results:

  • Dysregulated TGFβ signaling is prevalent in SCC.
  • TGFβ actively suppresses the antitumor immune response in the tumor microenvironment.
  • Targeting TGFβ presents a promising strategy to enhance immunotherapy effectiveness.

Conclusions:

  • TGFβ inhibition is a viable therapeutic strategy to improve immunotherapy outcomes in SCC.
  • SCCs are well-suited for investigating the clinical effectiveness of TGFβ-targeted therapies.
  • Combination approaches targeting TGFβ and immune checkpoints warrant further clinical investigation.
Keywords:
head and neck squamous cell carcinomaimmune checkpoint blockadeimmunotherapytumor microenvironment

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