REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1633338
This article is part of the Research TopicEpigenetic Alterations in Tumors and Therapeutic ResistanceView all 4 articles
Unraveling Epigenetic Drivers of Immune Evasion in Gliomas: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications
Provisionally accepted
- 1Precision Pharmacy & Drug Development Center, Department of Pharmacy, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
- 2Department of Urology, Air Force Medical University, Xian, China
- 3Department of Oncology, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
- 4Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
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Gliomas are the most common primary malignant tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), and despite progress in molecular diagnostics and targeted therapies, their prognosis remains poor. In recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment modality in cancer therapy. However, the inevitable immune evasion by tumor cells is a key barrier affecting therapeutic efficacy. Epigenetic regulation, such as DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA expression, plays a crucial role in the occurrence, development, and immune evasion of gliomas. These modifications can dynamically regulate gene expression, leading to the silencing of tumor-associated antigens, dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and dynamic modulation of immune checkpoints (such as PD-L1). This review systematically elucidates the key mechanisms by which epigenetic regulation promotes immune evasion in gliomas and details three interconnected mechanisms: 1) epigenetic silencing of tumor-associated antigens and antigen-presenting machinery; 2) dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion; and 3) dynamic modulation of PD-L1 expression through chromatin remodeling. We emphasize the potential of combining epigenetic therapies with immunotherapies to enhance anti-tumor immune responses and overcome treatment resistance in gliomas. Future research should focus on developing biomarker-driven epigenetic immunotherapies and exploring the complex interplay between epigenetic modifications, glioma cells, and the tumor immune microenvironment to improve patient outcomes.
Keywords: gliomas, Epigenetic regulations, Immune Evasion, non-coding RNA, CAR-T cell therapy
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Ju, Zhao, Liu, Liu and Liang. 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:
Qingqing Liu, Precision Pharmacy & Drug Development Center, Department of Pharmacy, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
Ying Liang, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.