Cancer and Pregnancy Share Similar Mechanisms of Immunological Escape

Wilczyński, Jacek R.

doi:10.1159/000092537

Cited by 42 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…25,29,80,81), but also the release of various immunomodulatory molecules that have a systemic effect. MICA/B, s-HLA-G, IL-6, IL-10, transforming growth factor-h, and progesterone-induced blocking factor are often found at increased level in the circulation of both cancer patients and pregnant women and are thought to assist the tumor and the fetus to escape attack by the immune system (20,27,80,82).…”

Section: Does the Effect Of Pregnancy On Immune Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heightened Risk of Breast Cancer Following Pregnancy: Could Lasting Systemic Immune Alterations Contribute?

Shakhar

Valdimarsdottir

Bovbjerg

2007

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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The protective effect of having a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP) at a younger age on women's lifetime risk of breast cancer is well known. Less appreciated is the increased risk seen in the years immediately following pregnancy. This adverse effect is more pronounced and more prolonged in women with later age at FFTP. The mechanisms responsible for this increased risk are still poorly understood. In the present paper, we put forward the hypothesis that the marked peripheral immune changes induced by pregnancy may account for these effects. We highlight immune changes that characterize the unique immune state of pregnancy (a combination of cellular immunosuppression and enhanced inflammatory response), note the resemblance of these changes to cancer escape mechanisms, and discuss why such immune changes may be critical for the development of breast cancer following pregnancy. We further support this idea by initial findings from our own laboratory that the age at FFTP is negatively related to natural killer cell cytotoxicity many years later and propose possible models for the kinetics of the immune changes during and following pregnancy. The effect of age at FFTP on the immune function is currently understudied. Its potential relevance to the development of breast cancer stresses the need for further research. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(6):1082 -6) The widely known protective effect of having a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP) at an earlier age on women's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer has been extensively documented over the past 30 years and is included as a factor in the classic Gail model of breast cancer risk (1). Less widely appreciated are more recent data from large-scale studies indicating that this protective effect is preceded by a period of increased risk for breast cancer, especially among women with later age at FFTP (2-8). This increased risk of developing breast cancer is both more pronounced and more prolonged in women with later age at FFTP (3)(4)(5)8). Indeed, the crossover from increased to decreased risk of breast cancer following pregnancy, which occurs after about 10 years for women whose FFTP was before the age of 25, occurs only after about 20 years for women whose FFTP was between 25 and 29, and may never crossover for women whose FFTP occurred after the age of 35 (3, 10).The mechanisms underlying what has been termed the ''dual'' effect of pregnancy on breast cancer risk are largely unknown. Reduced susceptibility to carcinogenesis due to terminal differentiation of mammary gland stem cells is increasingly recognized as a likely mechanism for the longterm reduction of risk following an early pregnancy (2,11,12). To date, speculation concerning the mechanisms responsible for the initial increased risk of breast cancer following pregnancy has also centered on possible effects on breast tissues, including the extracellular matrix (2, 13). These effects are most commonly attributed to the high proliferative rate of breast cells during pregnancy and t...

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Section: Does the Effect Of Pregnancy On Immune Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heightened Risk of Breast Cancer Following Pregnancy: Could Lasting Systemic Immune Alterations Contribute?

Shakhar

Valdimarsdottir

Bovbjerg

2007

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Amp; Prevention

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“…Moreau and collaborators demonstrated an increase in HLA-G transcripts in human trophoblast organ explants, of the first trimester of gestation, after treatment with glucocorticoids (dexamethasone or hydrocortisone) [59]. Because of the similarities of pregnancy and cancer [60,61], we postulate the same increase in HLA-G transcripts in some cancers. Our speculations were validated by the recent study of Akhter and collaborators.…”

Section: Hormones and Hormone Antagonistsmentioning

confidence: 62%

HLA-G regulators in cancer medicine: an outline of key requirements

Zidi

Amor

2011

Tumor Biol.

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“…Although cytokines are secreted by a number of immune cell types, T cells have often been characterized as playing a key role in determining the nature of an immune response [4]. If there is a predominance of T helper 1 (Th1) cells, the immune system will generate a cellmediated or cytotoxic response, targeting intracellular pathogens or cancerogenic cells [5]. In contrast, a predominance of T helper 2 (Th2) cells would favor an antibody-mediated or humoral response to target extracellular pathogens like bacteria [6].…”

Section: Cytokines and The Functional Immune Responsementioning

confidence: 99%