Prostaglandin E2 and Cancer: Insight into Tumor Progression and Immunity

• Published in: Biology (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 9; no. 12; p. 434
• Main Authors: Finetti, Federica, Travelli, Cristina, Ercoli, Jasmine, Colombo, Giorgia, Buoso, Erica, Trabalzini, Lorenza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Apoptosis; Aspirin; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell growth; Colorectal cancer; Enzymes; EP receptor; epithelium; Growth factor receptors; growth promotion; Homeostasis; immune evasion; Immune response; Inflammation; Kinases; knowledge; Lung cancer; Mesenchyme; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metastases; Metastasis; neoplasm progression; neoplasms; phenotype; Phenotypes; Physiology; Prostaglandin E2; prostaglandins; Prostate; Protein-tyrosine kinase; Proteins; receptors; Review; transcriptional activation; tumor inflammation; tumor microenvironment; Tumors; tyrosine; EP receptor; metastasis; prostaglandin E2; angiogenesis; cancer-related inflammation; immunosuppression; tumor inflammation; tumor microenvironment
• ISSN: 2079-7737; 2079-7737
• DOI: 10.3390/biology9120434

The involvement of inflammation in cancer progression has been the subject of research for many years. Inflammatory milieu and immune response are associated with cancer progression and recurrence. In different types of tumors, growth and metastatic phenotype characterized by the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, stemness, and angiogenesis, are increasingly associated with intrinsic or extrinsic inflammation. Among the inflammatory mediators, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) supports epithelial tumor aggressiveness by several mechanisms, including growth promotion, escape from apoptosis, transactivation of tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors, and induction of angiogenesis. Moreover, PGE2 is an important player in the tumor microenvironment, where it suppresses antitumor immunity and regulates tumor immune evasion, leading to increased tumoral progression. In this review, we describe the current knowledge on the pro-tumoral activity of PGE2 focusing on its role in cancer progression and in the regulation of the tumor microenvironment.