REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1627235
TSLP: contrasting roles in cancer
Provisionally accepted
- 1Center for Basic and Clinical Immunology Research (CISI), World Allergy Organization (WAO) Center of Excellence (CoE), Naples, Italy
- 2Department of Translational Medical Sciences, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- 3Maugeri (Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri-IRCCS Scientific Institute of Telese Terme, Benevento, Italy)., Benevento, Italy
- 4Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
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Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an alarmin cytokine possessing a plethora of pleiotropic properties. Human and mouse TSLP exerts their activity via a heterodimeric complex composed of TSLP receptor (TSLPR) chain and IL-7Rα. TSLP is predominantly expressed by epithelial cells and keratinocytes but can also be produced by several immune cells and some cancers. TSLP activates a plethora of immune cells implicated in inflammation, angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. In addition to its role in barrier immunity, recent studies have a role for TSLP in cancer development. This includes both human hematologic cancers and several solid tumors (largely carcinomas). The role of TSLP in human and experimental cancers has been the focus of several studies, with somewhat contradictory findings. In this Review, we will highlight recent advances in TSLP immunobiology in the context of human and experimental cancers. We will also discuss recent findings demonstrating that an anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody (mAb) can exert a protective effect in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. The recent approval of an anti-TSLP mAb for asthma treatment also emphasizes the urgent need for additional research on the role of TSLP, a Janus cytokine, in tumorigenesis.
Keywords: alarmin, cancer immunity, cytokine, TSLP, tslp isoforms, Tumor Microenvironment
Received: 12 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Poto, Marone, Ziegler and Varricchi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Steven Frank Ziegler, Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
Gilda Varricchi, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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