Role of toll-like receptors in cancer immunotherapy– a review

Abstract

Cancer is recognized as the major concern in today’s world. It is a condition or a group of diseases in which cells are abnormally divided. In the past century, the understanding and treatment of cancer has developed a lot and treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery etc. have emerged. However, these are not enough to meet the desirable expectations and there is still need of new approaches to tame the immune system in the fight against cancer to make it a curable disease in the future. A series of current reports described that TLRs play a pivotal role in activating immune response against a number of pathogens, several disease conditions including pathogenesis of cancer. Besides, activation of TLRs interplay a crucial role in the initiation, progression and treatment of cancer. This review has discussed the basic features of TLR- ligands, their mechanism of action and how a limiting factor can contribute towards carcinogenesis. Moreover, it also involves the research and efforts of the scientists towards the evaluation of anti-cancer therapeutics that target TLR-signaling pathways.