The Immune Microenvironment in Brain Metastases of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lumeng Luo; Peiyi Liu; Kuaile Zhao; Weixin Zhao; Xiaofei Zhang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.698844

The Immune Microenvironment in Brain Metastases of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Front Oncol. 2021 Jul 14:11:698844. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.698844. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lumeng Luo^{1

2}, Peiyi Liu³, Kuaile Zhao^{1

2}, Weixin Zhao^{1

2}, Xiaofei Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Orthopedics, TongRen Hospital, School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Brain metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer is associated with poor survival outcomes and poses rough clinical challenges. At the era of immunotherapy, it is urgent to perform a comprehensive study uncovering the specific immune microenvironment of brain metastases of NSCLC. The immune microenvironment of brain is distinctly different from microenvironments of extracranial lesions. In this review, we summarized the process of brain metastases across the barrier and revealed that brain is not completely immune-privileged. We comprehensively described the specific components of immune microenvironment for brain metastases such as central nervous system-derived antigen-presenting cells, microglia and astrocytes. Besides, the difference of immune microenvironment between brain metastases and primary foci of lung was particularly demonstrated.

Keywords: brain metastases; brain metastases of non-small cell lung cancer; immune microenvironment; immune therapeutics; non-small cell lung cancer.

Publication types

Review