Exosomes and cancer immunotherapy: A review of recent cancer research

Yue Cao; Peng Xu; Yangling Shen; Wei Wu; Min Chen; Fei Wang; Yuandong Zhu; Feng Yan; Weiying Gu; Yan Lin

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.1118101

Exosomes and cancer immunotherapy: A review of recent cancer research

Front Oncol. 2023 Jan 16:12:1118101. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1118101. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yue Cao¹, Peng Xu², Yangling Shen¹, Wei Wu¹, Min Chen¹, Fei Wang¹, Yuandong Zhu¹, Feng Yan¹, Weiying Gu¹, Yan Lin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.
² Department of Hematology, Soochow Hopes Hematology Hospital, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.

Abstract

As phospholipid extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by various cells, exosomes contain non-coding RNA (ncRNA), mRNA, DNA fragments, lipids, and proteins, which are essential for intercellular communication. Several types of cells can secrete exosomes that contribute to cancer initiation and progression. Cancer cells and the immune microenvironment interact and restrict each other. Tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) have become essential players in this balance because they carry information from the original cancer cells and express complexes of MHC class I/II epitopes and costimulatory molecules. In the present study, we aimed to identify potential targets for exosome therapy by examining the specific expression and mechanism of exosomes derived from cancer cells. We introduced TDEs and explored their role in different tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), with a particular emphasis on gastrointestinal cancers, before briefly describing the therapeutic strategies of exosomes in cancer immune-related therapy.

Keywords: exosome; extracellular vesicle; gastrointestinal cancer; immunotherapy; tumor immune microenvironment.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Youth Science Fund Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81800100) and the Project of Changzhou Health Leading Talent Project during the 14th Five Year Plan Period (grant no. KY20221336).