found that obesity helps to establish a type of tumor microenvironment that promotes tumor progression. How exactly this happens lies in the relationship between the saturated fatty acids, the STING-type-I interferon pathway, and NLRC3 (
).
Generally, researchers tend to think about the increased risks for gastrointestinal tumors, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and ovarian cancer when it comes to obesity. But its role in oral cancer remains unknown. Multiple studies involving millions of individuals from several continents revealed a previously underappreciated link between obesity and oral cancer risks (
).
Myeloid cells in obese mice were insensitive to STING agonists and were more suppressive of T cell activation compared to the myeloid cells from leans hosts. This feature drove the loss of immune subsets that were crucial for anti-tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment.
Advertisement
They found that saturated fatty acids can block the STING pathway, which is induced by cytosolic DNA and promotes antigen-presenting cell maturation, by inducing a protein called NLRC3. This is the first study establishing a mechanistic link between obesity with oral cancer immune escape (3✔ ✔Trusted Source
Statin use associated with improved overall and cancer specific survival in patients with head and neck cancer
Go to source
).Obesity is a common comorbidity in cancer patients. Two recent studies found that oral cancer patients who were on statinsmedicines that lower cholesterolshowed improved overall and cancer-specific survival.
This study again establishes a mechanistic link for those observations and highlights the potential of targeting fatty acids metabolism in remodeling the host anti-tumor immune response. Next, researchers will explore how obesity regulates other immune-activating pathways and identify novel intervention targets for better oral cancer prevention in high-risk individuals.
References :
- HPV16 drives cancer immune escape via NLRX1-mediated degradation of STING
– (https://www.jci.org/articles/view/129497) - Saturated fatty acids dampen the immunogenicity of cancer by suppressing STING
– (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112303) - Statin use associated with improved overall and cancer specific survival in patients with head and neck cancer
– (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1368837519300302?via%3Dihub)
Source: Eurekalert
Source link
#Oral #Cancer #Cells #Fat #Fuel #Escape #Immunity
