Complement in Metastasis: A Comp in the Camp

Overview

Journal Front Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2019 Apr 20

PMID 31001273

Citations 17

Authors

Daniel Ajona

Sergio Ortiz-Espinosa

Ruben Pio

Fernando Lecanda

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The complement system represents a pillar of the innate immune response. This system, critical for host defense against pathogens, encompasses more than 50 soluble, and membrane-bound proteins. Emerging evidence underscores its clinical relevance in tumor progression and its role in metastasis, one of the hallmarks of cancer. The multistep process of metastasis entails the acquisition of advantageous functions required for the formation of secondary tumors. Thus, targeting components of the complement system could impact not only on tumor initiation but also on several crucial steps along tumor dissemination. This novel vulnerability could be concomitantly exploited with current strategies overcoming tumor-mediated immunosuppression to provide a substantial clinical benefit in the treatment of metastatic disease. In this review, we offer a on recent advances in this area and their prospective potential for cancer treatment.

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