Autoimmunity vs. cancer: Predator vs. alien?

Abstract

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” According to this motto, the human protagonists in Paul W. S. Anderson's science-fiction movie “Alien vs. Predator” (2004) solidarize with a predator in order to fight the aliens. Can this ancient and simple logic be transferred to the field of oncology and cancer immunotherapy? Can we utilize mechanisms known from the context of autoimmunity to fight cancer? Here, we summarize immune cell-mediated detection of danger and damage, central and peripheral tolerance, immunoregulation and immune privilege — processes known to be deregulated in the context of autoimmunity. We discuss them with special regard towards their misusage by tumors and pathogens and how they might be instrumentalized in the context of anti-cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords::

• apoptosis
• cancer immunotherapy
• immune privilege
• immunoregulation
• tolerance

Declaration of interest : This work was supported by the DFG (SFB643 to MH, SFB796 to CB and SFB914 to KL) and the K&R Wucherpfennig Stiftung (to MH). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.