Heterogeneity of cholangiocarcinoma immune biology

Vita, F., Olaizola Rebè, I., Amato, F., Rae, C. , Marco, S., Banales, J. M. and Braconi, C. (2023) Heterogeneity of cholangiocarcinoma immune biology. Cells, 12(6), 846. (doi: 10.3390/cells12060846) (PMID:36980187) (PMCID:PMC10047186)

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are aggressive tumors arising along the biliary tract epithelium, whose incidence and mortality are increasing. CCAs are highly desmoplastic cancers characterized by a dense tumor microenvironment (TME), in which each single component plays a fundamental role in shaping CCA initiation, progression and resistance to therapies. The crosstalk between cancer cells and TME can affect the recruitment, infiltration and differentiation of immune cells. According to the stage of the disease and to intra- and inter-patient heterogeneity, TME may contribute to either protumoral or antitumoral activities. Therefore, a better understanding of the effect of each immune cell subtype may open the path to new personalized immune therapeutic strategies for the management of CCA. In this review, we describe the role of immune cells in CCA initiation and progression, and their crosstalk with both cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and the cancer-stem-cell-like (CSC) niche.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Chiara Braconi is recipient of a Lord-Kelvin–Adam-Smith readership from the University of Glasgow, an Institutional catalyst Welcome Trust award (ISSF310138), and Chief Scientist Office research grant (TCS/21/25). Francesca Vita has been recipient of a Short-Term Scientific Mission grant from EURO-CHOLANGIO-NET COST CA18122 (E-COST-GRANT-CA18122-0ae6d103).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Marco, Dr Sergi and Rae, Dr Colin and Amato, Francesco and Olaizola Rebe, Irene and Vita, Francesca and Braconi, Professor Chiara
• Authors: Vita, F., Olaizola Rebè, I., Amato, F., Rae, C., Marco, S., Banales, J. M., and Braconi, C.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Cells
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2073-4409
• ISSN (Online): 2073-4409
• Published Online: 08 March 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Cells 12(6): 846
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
310138		Liquid biopsy as a mean to promote personalized medicine in biliary cancer patients	Chiara Braconi	Wellcome Trust (WELLCOTR)	N/A	Institute of Cancer Sciences
315305		Dissecting the transcriptomic and phenotypic reprogramming of monocytes that mediate chemoresistance in cholangiocarcinoma.	Chiara Braconi	Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSO)	N/A	Institute of Cancer Sciences