肿瘤学专业英语

Immunotherapy has been shown to improve cancer survival, but there are no consensus guidelines to inform use in patients with both cancer and autoimmune disease (AD). We sought to examine immunotherapy utilization patterns between cancer patients with and without AD.

This retrospective cohort study utilized data from a de-identified nationwide oncology database. Patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma were included. Outcomes of interest included first-line immunotherapy, overall immunotherapy, and number of immunotherapy cycles. We used logistic and Poisson regression models to examine associations between AD and immunotherapy utilization patterns.

One of the greatest challenges to cancer therapy is tumor cell plasticity. Cancer cells can rapidly alter their phenotype to promote survival and evade immune cell attack, while the plasticity of other cells in the tumor microenvironment (such as immune cells, which need to be able to respond to a diverse range of bodily threats) can be leveraged to further promote tumor growth and progression. This Essay discusses the mutual plasticity of cancer and immune cells, with a focus on epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity in tumor cells, and explores how this interplay contributes to tumor progression and can be targeted therapeutically.

Metastasis is the predominant cause of cancer mortality, primarily driven by complex tumor–host interactions within specialized metastatic niches. Recent advances in single-cell technologies have provided unprecedented insights into metastatic niche formation, evolution and function, including how primary tumors precondition distant organs for metastases and how disseminated tumor cells dynamically interact with host cells to modulate their environments. Integrated single-cell studies across multiple cancer types have also revealed divergent and convergent metastatic adaptation strategies. These findings collectively highlight metastasis as a dynamic, cooperative process shaped by intricate tumor–host interactions, and provide a foundation for novel therapeutic strategies targeting components of the metastatic microenvironment.