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Microbes & Immunity

EDITORIAL
Immunomodulation and antitumor strategies

targeting tumor microenvironment

Xiaobo Wu*
SH HO Urology Centre, The Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Immunomodulation and Antitumor Strategies in the Tumor
Microenvironment)

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the key determinant of cancer initiation,
progression, and response to therapy. The TME consists of a heterogeneous network
1
of tumor cells, immune cells, stromal cells, extracellular matrix, and soluble factors that
interact dynamically and bidirectionally to shape the tumor phenotype and behavior.
The TME also plays a crucial role in modulating the immune system, which can either
mount an antitumor response or facilitate tumor evasion and survival. Therefore,
understanding the mechanisms of immune regulation in the TME is essential for
developing novel immunomodulatory and antitumor strategies that can enhance the
efficacy and safety of cancer immunotherapy.
Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as a promising and powerful modality for
treating various types of malignancies. Immunotherapy aims to stimulate the immune
system to recognize and eliminate tumor cells, either by augmenting the activity of
effector cells, such as cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells or by blocking the
2,3
inhibitory signals that dampen the immune response, such as checkpoint molecules.
However, despite the remarkable clinical success of some immunotherapeutic agents,
such as monoclonal antibodies against programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its
*Corresponding author: ligand PD-L1, only a subset of patients benefit from these treatments, and many develop
Xiaobo Wu
(henrywu@surgery.cuhk.edu.hk) resistance or adverse events. Moreover, some tumors are inherently immunologically
“cold,” meaning that they have low immunogenicity and poor infiltration of immune
Citation: Wu X. Immunomodulation
and antitumor strategies targeting cells, which limits the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Therefore, there is a pressing
tumor microenvironment. Microbes need to identify new ways to overcome the immunological barriers and challenges posed
& Immunity. 2025;2(1):1-2. by the TME and to improve the outcomes of cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. 4
doi: 10.36922/mi.4359
In this special issue, we have gathered a collection of original research articles and
Received: July 29, 2024
reviews that cover various aspects of immunomodulation and antitumor strategies
Published Online: November 20, targeting the TME, with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the current
2024
state of the art and the future directions in this exciting and rapidly evolving field. The
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). articles span a wide range of topics, including the role of immune cells, cytokines,
This is an Open-Access article chemokines, and other mediators in the TME; the molecular and cellular mechanisms
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution of immune evasion and suppression in the TME; the identification and characterization
License, permitting distribution, of novel targets and biomarkers for immunomodulation and antitumor therapy in the
and reproduction in any medium, TME; the development and evaluation of novel immunomodulatory and antitumor
provided the original work is
properly cited. agents and approaches that target the TME; and the clinical implications and challenges
of TME-targeting immunomodulation and antitumor strategies.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with We hope that this special issue will stimulate further research and innovation in
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional the field of immunomodulation and antitumor strategies relevant to the TME and
affiliations. contribute to the advancement of cancer immunotherapy. We would like to thank all

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/mi.4359