Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Understanding allergy and cancer risk: what are the barriers?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that allergic immune responses can protect against some types of cancer. What are the possible underlying mechanisms, and can allergic reactions be harnessed for anticancer therapy?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Pardoll, D. M. The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy. Nature Rev. Cancer 12, 252–264 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hwang, C. Y. et al. Cancer risk in patients with allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan. Int. J. Cancer 130, 1160–1167 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Palm, N. W., Rosenstein, R. K. & Medzhitov, R. Allergic host defences. Nature 484, 465–472 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Palmer, C. N. et al. Common loss-of-function variants of the epidermal barrier protein filaggrin are a major predisposing factor for atopic dermatitis. Nature Genet. 38, 441–446 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cipolat, S., Hoste, E., Natsuga, K., Quist, S. R. & Watt, F. M. Epidermal barrier defects link atopic dermatitis with altered skin cancer susceptibility. Elife 3, e01888 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Strid, J., Sobolev, O., Zafirova, B., Polic, B. & Hayday, A. The intraepithelial T cell response to NKG2D-ligands links lymphoid stress surveillance to atopy. Science 334, 1293–1297 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Ziegler, S. F. & Artis, D. Sensing the outside world: TSLP regulates barrier immunity. Nature Immunol. 11, 289–293 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Guinea-Viniegra, J. et al. Differentiation-induced skin cancer suppression by FOS, 53, and TACE/ADAM17. J. Clin. Invest. 122, 2898–2910 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Demehri, S. et al. Elevated epidermal thymic stromal lymphopoietin levels establish an antitumor environment in the skin. Cancer Cell 22, 494–505 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Di Piazza, M., Nowell, C. S., Koch, U., Durham, A. D. & Radtke, F. Loss of cutaneous TSLP-dependent immune responses skews the balance of inflammation from tumor protective to tumor promoting. Cancer Cell 22, 479–493 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wilson, S. R. et al. The epithelial cell-derived atopic dermatitis cytokine TSLP activates neurons to induce itch. Cell 155, 285–295 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Girardi, M. et al. The distinct contributions of murine T cell receptor (TCR)γδ+ and TCRαβ+ T cells to different stages of chemically induced skin cancer. J. Exp. Med. 198, 747–755 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Strid, J. et al. Acute upregulation of an NKG2D ligand promotes rapid reorganization of a local immune compartment with pleiotropic effects on carcinogenesis. Nature Immunol. 9, 146–154 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Jensen-Jarolim, E. et al. AllergoOncology: the role of IgE-mediated allergy in cancer. Allergy 63, 1255–1266 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Karagiannis, S. N. et al. Recombinant IgE antibodies for passive immunotherapy of solid tumours: from concept towards clinical application. Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 61, 1547–1564 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hoste, E. et al. Innate sensing of microbial products promotes wound-induced skin cancer. Nature Commun. 6, 5932 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fiona M. Watt.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hoste, E., Cipolat, S. & Watt, F. Understanding allergy and cancer risk: what are the barriers?. Nat Rev Cancer 15, 131–132 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3909

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3909

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer