| Despite developments in the treatment of various cancers, prostate cancer is one of the deadliest diseases known
to men. Systemic therapies such as androgen deprivation, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy have not been
very successful in treating this disease. Numerous studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between
cancer progression and inhibition of anti-tumor immune responses that can lead to progression of various ma-lignancies, including prostate cancer. Interestingly, CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells significantly accu-mulate and increase in draining lymph nodes and PBMCs of patients with prostate cancer and other solid tumors.
In vivo and in vitro studies have shown that Tregs can suppress anti-tumor responses, which is directly related to
the increased risk of cancer recurrence. Tregs are essential for preserving self-tolerance and inhibiting extra
immune responses harmful to the host. Since the tumor-related antigens are mainly self-antigens, Tregs could
play a major role in tumor progression. Accordingly, it has discovered that prostate cancer patients with higher
Tregs have poor prognosis and low survival rates. However, anti-tumor responses can be reinforced by sup-pression of Tregs with using monoclonal antibodies against CD25 and CTLA-4. Therefore, depleting Tregs or
suppressing their functions could be one of the effective ways for prostate cancer immunotherapy. The purpose of
this review is to investigate the role of Treg cells in the progression of prostate cancer and to evaluate effective
strategies for the treatment of prostate cancer by regulating Treg cells. |