Tumor-Promoting/Associated Inflammation and the Microenvironment: A State of the Science and New Horizons

This chapter describes the role of inflammation and the microenvironment in tumor evolution, how carcinogenesis may occur through these programs, and provide one possible unifying way of thinking about how the tumor controls the microenvironment and how this control may be an Achilles' heel for the treatment and cancer. The inflammatory microenvironment influences multiple cancer hallmarks, including cell proliferation/death, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis, and increasing data suggest the link between the majority of cancers with the chronic inflammation that can contribute to cancer development from initiation and throughout malignant progression. The presence of inflammatory cells commonly precedes tumor development. Many types of cancer are more frequent in human patients who undergo immunosuppressive treatment. Natural killer (NK) cells recognize a vast array of tumor cells, which they help to eliminate through cytotoxicity and the production of cytokines, especially IFN-y.