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Monitoring the Cancer-Immunity Cycle and Exploring Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics
Published on: June 7, 2024
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Aging, cancer, and antitumor immunity.
Hideki Ikeda1,2, Yosuke Togashi3
1Chiba Cancer Center, Research Institute, 666-2, Nitona-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8717, Japan.
International Journal of Clinical Oncology
|March 30, 2021
Summary
Aging impairs the immune system (immunosenescence), increasing disease susceptibility. This review examines immunosenescence in cancer, focusing on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) efficacy and toxicity in older patients.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Gerontology
- Oncology
Background:
- Aging causes immunosenescence, a decline in immune function affecting pathogen response, vaccination efficacy, and increasing susceptibility to cancer and chronic diseases.
- Understanding immunosenescence mechanisms is crucial, especially with the growing population of elderly cancer patients.
- Cancer immunotherapies like immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) show promise, but data on their use in older adults are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize current knowledge on immunosenescence.
- To review the relationship between immunosenescence, cancer, and antitumor immunity.
- To provide an overview of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy and toxicity in elderly cancer patients.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of existing data on immunosenescence.
- Analysis of studies investigating cancer in aging populations.
- Evaluation of clinical trial data and systematic reviews on ICIs in elderly patients.
Main Results:
- Immunosenescence contributes to increased cancer risk and altered antitumor immunity.
- ICIs demonstrate comparable efficacy in older cancer patients, but effectiveness may decrease in the very old.
- Increased toxicity of ICIs may be observed in elderly and very old populations.
Conclusions:
- Immunosenescence significantly impacts cancer development and treatment response in the elderly.
- Further research is needed to optimize ICI therapy for older cancer patients, considering age-related immune changes.
- Tailoring immunotherapies based on an individual's immunosenescence profile may improve outcomes for elderly cancer patients.
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