Histone deacetylases (HDACs) as the promising immunotherapeutic targets for hematologic cancer treatment

Fei-Fei Yang1, Ting Hu1, Jian-Quan Liu1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention and Treatment; Key Laboratory of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology, Ministry of Education of China; School of Pharmaceutical Science and Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, PR China.

Bone marrow transplantation is regarded as the most effective immunotherapy for hematologic cancer, but it generally faces difficulties in matching. Aberrant expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is closely related to the occurrence and development of hematological cancer. Recent studies suggested that HDACs might play a critical role in initiating anti-cancer immune response or enhancing anti-cancer immunotherapy. Besides, combining HDAC inhibition and immunotherapy could prevent immunotherapy resistance in some degree and reach an extended treatment window. This review summarized the relationship between HDACs and immune and described the current understanding of HDACs in immunotherapy for hematologic cancer.

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