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Du et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2016;2:463-70 Journal of
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2016.62
Cancer Metastasis and Treatment

www.jcmtjournal.com
Review Open Access

Targeting Toll-like receptors against cancer

Bing Du 1,2* , Qiu-Li Jiang , Joseph Cleveland , Bing-Rong Liu , Dekai Zhang 1
2
3*
1
1 Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
2 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the Second Affiliation Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, Heilongjiang, China.
3 Department of Immunology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, Heilongjiang, China.
* The first two authors contributed equally to this paper.
Correspondence to: Dr. Dekai Zhang, Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Texas A&M University, 2121 W. Holcombe Blvd.,
Houston, TX 77030, USA. E-mail: dzhang@ibt.tamhsc.edu; Dr. Bing-Rong Liu, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the Second
Affiliation Hospital, Harbin Medical University, 246 Xuefu Rd., Nangang District, Harbin 150086, China. E-mail: bingrongliu@qq.com

How to cite this article: Du B, Jiang QL, Cleveland J, Liu BR, Zhang D. Targeting Toll-like receptors against cancer. J Cancer Metastasis Treat
2016;2:463-70.

Dr. Dekai Zhang, Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Texas A&M University. His main interests are:
innate immunity; infectious and inflammatory diseases in GI tract; cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Bing-Rong Liu, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical
University. His main interests are: endoscopic new techniques; infectious and inflammatory diseases in GI tract.

ABSTRACT
Article history: The discovery of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) about 20 years ago was a remarkable
Received: 18-10-2016 achievement not only in the field of immunology but also in the field of medicine. The
Accepted: 16-12-2016 TLRs are a family of pattern recognition receptors which play an important role in
Published: 29-12-2016 immune responses by recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns. The TLRs also
recognize danger-associated molecular patterns, which are associated with some diseases
Key words: such as cancer. Recent evidence shows that TLRs are expressed not only in immune
Toll-like receptor, cells but also in tumor cells. The TLRs appear to play a role in tumor progression and
innate immunity, treatment. Most likely, TLR activation has an impact on the initiation, development and
cancer, treatment of tumors by modulating the inflammatory microenvironment. However, the
cancer treatment, activation of TLRs contributes to both inhibition and promotion of various tumors, with
cancer immunotherapy unclear underlying mechanisms. In this review article, the authors elucidate their current
understanding about the role of TLRs in tumor progression, as well as the recent progress
in utilizing TLR agonists as potential therapeutic agents in cancer treatment.

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