Tackling cancer cell dormancy: Insights from immune models, and transplantation
Alexandre Corthay1, Tibor Bakacs2, Govindarajan Thangavelu3
1Tumor Immunology Lab, Department of Pathology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Hybrid Technology Hub - Centre of Excellence, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
Disseminated non-dividing (dormant) cancer cells as well as those in equilibrium with the immune response remain the major challenge for successful treatment of cancer. The equilibrium between disseminated dormant cancer cells and the immune system is reminiscent of states that can occur during infection or allogeneic tissue and cell transplantation. We discuss here the major competing models of how the immune system achieves a self nonself discrimination (pathogen/danger patterns, quorum, and coinhibition/tuning models), and suggest that taking advantage of a combination of the proposed mechanisms in each model may lead to increased efficacy in tackling cancer cell dormancy.
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