STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy
Abstract As cancer continues to rank among the leading causes of death, the demand for novel treatments has never been higher. Immunotherapy shows promise, yet many solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma remain resistant. In these, the “cold” tumor microenvironment with low immune ce...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Advanced Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500296 |
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| author | Laura Gehrcken Christophe Deben Evelien Smits Jonas R.M. Van Audenaerde |
| author_facet | Laura Gehrcken Christophe Deben Evelien Smits Jonas R.M. Van Audenaerde |
| author_sort | Laura Gehrcken |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract As cancer continues to rank among the leading causes of death, the demand for novel treatments has never been higher. Immunotherapy shows promise, yet many solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma remain resistant. In these, the “cold” tumor microenvironment with low immune cell infiltration and inactive anti‐tumoral immune cells leads to increased tumor resistance to these drugs. This resistance has driven the development of several drug candidates, including stimulators of interferon genes (STING) agonists to reprogram the immune system to fight off tumors. Preclinical studies demonstrated that STING agonists can trigger the cancer immunity cycle and increase type I interferon secretion and T cell activation, which subsequently induces tumor regression. Despite promising preclinical data, biological and physical challenges persist in translating the success of STING agonists into clinical trials. Nonetheless, novel combination strategies are emerging, investigating the combination of these agonists with other immunotherapies, presenting encouraging preclinical results. This review will examine these potential combination strategies for STING agonists and assess the benefits and challenges of employing them in cancer immunotherapy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d0793b8b8dc54cb08b2b3bad74ecea53 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2198-3844 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-d0793b8b8dc54cb08b2b3bad74ecea532025-08-20T03:48:47ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-05-011217n/an/a10.1002/advs.202500296STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer ImmunotherapyLaura Gehrcken0Christophe Deben1Evelien Smits2Jonas R.M. Van Audenaerde3Center for Oncological Research (CORE), Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Antwerp Wilrijk 2610 BelgiumCenter for Oncological Research (CORE), Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Antwerp Wilrijk 2610 BelgiumCenter for Oncological Research (CORE), Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Antwerp Wilrijk 2610 BelgiumCenter for Oncological Research (CORE), Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Antwerp Wilrijk 2610 BelgiumAbstract As cancer continues to rank among the leading causes of death, the demand for novel treatments has never been higher. Immunotherapy shows promise, yet many solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma remain resistant. In these, the “cold” tumor microenvironment with low immune cell infiltration and inactive anti‐tumoral immune cells leads to increased tumor resistance to these drugs. This resistance has driven the development of several drug candidates, including stimulators of interferon genes (STING) agonists to reprogram the immune system to fight off tumors. Preclinical studies demonstrated that STING agonists can trigger the cancer immunity cycle and increase type I interferon secretion and T cell activation, which subsequently induces tumor regression. Despite promising preclinical data, biological and physical challenges persist in translating the success of STING agonists into clinical trials. Nonetheless, novel combination strategies are emerging, investigating the combination of these agonists with other immunotherapies, presenting encouraging preclinical results. This review will examine these potential combination strategies for STING agonists and assess the benefits and challenges of employing them in cancer immunotherapy.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500296cancerimmunotherapySTING agoniststumor microenvironmenttumor resistance |
| spellingShingle | Laura Gehrcken Christophe Deben Evelien Smits Jonas R.M. Van Audenaerde STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy Advanced Science cancer immunotherapy STING agonists tumor microenvironment tumor resistance |
| title | STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy |
| title_full | STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy |
| title_fullStr | STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy |
| title_full_unstemmed | STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy |
| title_short | STING Agonists and How to Reach Their Full Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy |
| title_sort | sting agonists and how to reach their full potential in cancer immunotherapy |
| topic | cancer immunotherapy STING agonists tumor microenvironment tumor resistance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202500296 |
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