Science Translational Medicine: A20 downregulation promotes lung cancer immune escape, a new checkpoint for lung cancer development

Tumor cells express immunoregulatory factors to reshape the tumor microenvironment (TME) and promote tumor immune escape, which is a sign of cancer progression

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers, and treatment options are extremely limited, especially for patients with cancer-causing mutations in the KRAS gene

Gene mutations that drive tumor evolution will regulate TME, and this will directly affect the effectiveness of immunotherapy

Recently, the research team of Vienna Medical University published a research paper titled: Down-regulation of A20 promotes immune escape of lung adenocarcinomas in Science Translational Medicine, a subsidiary of Science

The study found that the lack of A20 in tumor cells significantly enhanced the occurrence of lung cancer, and was related to the decline in CD8+ T cell-mediated immune surveillance

K-Ras is a monomeric G protein that exists in the NF-kB signaling pathway and plays a key role in the growth of malignant tumors

Next, the research team aims to understand the molecular mechanism of A20 down-regulation to promote tumor immune escape

Data from different cancer patients indicate that IFN signals inherent in tumor cells play an important role in the response to ICB treatment

In general, the study revealed the tumor suppressor function of A20 in lung adenocarcinoma, and clarified that A20 is the main immune checkpoint that regulates the TBK1-STAT1-PD-L1 axis.

Original source:

Kristina Breitenecker, et al.