Tumour necrosis factor and cancer

• Published in: The Journal of pathology Vol. 230; no. 3; pp. 241 - 248
• Main Authors: Waters, John P, Pober, Jordan S, Bradley, John R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-07-2013; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: angiogenesis; Animals; cancer; Cell Death; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Cell Survival; Humans; inflammation; Models, Biological; Neoplasms - blood supply; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasms - therapy; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Signal Transduction; Tumor Necrosis Factors - genetics; Tumor Necrosis Factors - physiology; Tumor Necrosis Factors - therapeutic use; tumour necrosis factor
• ISSN: 0022-3417; 1096-9896
• DOI: 10.1002/path.4188

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) was originally described as a circulating factor that can induce haemorrhagic necrosis of tumours. It is now clear that TNF has many different functions in cancer biology. In addition to causing the death of cancer cells, TNF can activate cancer cell survival and proliferation pathways, trigger inflammatory cell infiltration of tumours and promote angiogenesis and tumour cell migration and invasion. These effects can be explained by the diverse cellular responses TNF can initiate through distinct signal transduction pathways, opening the way for more selective targeting of TNF signalling in cancer therapy. Copyright © 2013 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.