MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Targeting Innate and Adaptive Immunity to Suppress Lung Cancer Metastasis
Provisionally accepted
- Department of pathology, Xiangyang No.1 People's Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Xiangyang, 441000, Hunan, China
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Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally, with metastasis and recurrence as primary determinants of poor prognosis. Despite advances in immunotherapy, intrinsic and acquired resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) underscores the need to explore alternative immunomodulatory strategies. Emerging evidence highlights the critical yet dual roles of innate and adaptive immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) in either restraining or facilitating metastatic dissemination. Adaptive immunity, dominated by T and B cells, orchestrates context-dependent antitumor responses or immunosuppression, while innate immune dysregulation fosters metastatic niches. We highlight translational opportunities, such as NK cell activation, macrophage reprogramming, and DC-based vaccines, alongside prognostic biomarkers like peripheral NK activity and tryptase⁺ mast cell infiltration. This review summarizes the interplay of immune cell subsets, including T and B lymphocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer (NK) cells, and mast cells, in lung cancer progression. By synthesizing preclinical and clinical insights, this review identifies unresolved challenges and proposes targeting innate immunity as a promising avenue to augment current therapies and mitigate metastasis.
Keywords: lung cancer, adaptive immune cells, innate immune cells, Immune dysregulation, metastasis, Therapeutic target
Received: 10 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qin. 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: Rong Qin, 18871757703@163.com
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