著者

塚原 富士子 丸 義朗

出版者

東京女子医科大学学会

雑誌

東京女子医科大学雑誌 (ISSN:00409022)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.91, no.1, pp.19-28, 2021-02-25 (Released:2021-03-16)

参考文献数

63

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in late 2019. It has been rapidly spreading worldwide ever since. The majority of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. However, old age or comorbidities can result in a cytokine storm, which eventually leads to death. To date, no drug has been clinically proven effective to treat COVID-19, and development of effective drugs against SARS-CoV-2 is urgently required. Several drugs used in treating other diseases are being evaluated. Clinical trials on many new antiviral drugs and vaccine candidates are also rapidly ongoing. In this review, we summarized the currently used drugs and newly developed vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19.

著者

塚原 富士子 丸 義朗

出版者

東京女子医科大学学会

雑誌

東京女子医科大学雑誌 (ISSN:00409022)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.90, no.6, pp.119-125, 2020-12-25 (Released:2020-12-25)

参考文献数

30

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Inflammation is a biological defense mechanism, and the immune system plays a central role in recognizing and eliminating external and internal pathogens. However, oxidative stress due to chronic inflammation accumulates DNA mutations and increases the risk of cancer. The immune system can recognize and eliminate immunogenic cancer cells. Inflammation-related molecules, including cytokines and chemokines, not only promote the malignant transformation, but also accumulate immunosuppressive cells, such as M2-like tumor-associated macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, in the tumor microenvironment. Tumor cells escape immune attack by placing brakes on the immune cell responses. Immune checkpoint inhibitors activate the immune system by releasing the brake. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated significant therapeutic effects in intractable cancers, the therapeutic effects are limited and overcoming drug resistance is a problem. In order to overcome drug resistance, combined immunotherapy, comprising immune checkpoint inhibitors, angiogenesis inhibitors, and chemotherapeutic agents, is required. In this review, we have outlined the relationship between inflammation and cancer, the roles of cytokines, chemokines, immunosuppressive cells, and current progress in using immune checkpoint inhibitors as a therapeutic.