Abstract
Lymphoma is a neoplasm arising from B or T lymphocytes or natural killer cells characterized by clonal lymphoproliferation. This tumor comprises a diverse and heterogeneous group of malignancies with distinct clinical, histopathological, and molecular characteristics. Despite advances in lymphoma treatment, clinical outcomes of patients with relapsed or refractory disease remain poor. Thus, a deeper understanding of molecular pathogenesis and tumor progression of lymphoma is required. Epigenetic alterations contribute to cancer initiation, progression, and drug resistance. In fact, over the past decade, dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms has been identified in lymphomas, and the knowledge of the epigenetic aberrations has led to the emergence of the promising epigenetic therapy field in lymphoma tumors. However, epigenetic aberrations in lymphoma not only have been found in tumor cells, but also in cells from the tumor microenvironment, such as immune cells. Whereas the epigenetic dysregulation in lymphoma cells is being intensively investigated, there are limited studies regarding the epigenetic mechanisms that affect the functions of immune cells from the tumor microenvironment in lymphoma. Therefore, this review tries to provide a general overview of epigenetic alterations that affect both lymphoma cells and infiltrating immune cells within the tumor, as well as the epigenetic cross-talk between them.
Highlights
Cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases that develop from normal cells
Immune cell function in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is affected by epigenetic alterations, which contributes to a favorable environment for tumor growth
The role of epigenetic alterations in lymphoma and other tumors has been predominantly focused on tumor cells
Summary
Cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases that develop from normal cells. The successive abnormalities and changes in these normal cells drive their progressive transformation into malignant cells [1]. Given the importance of epigenetics in affecting cell function by providing disruptive properties, a better understanding of how epigenetic modifications regulate both tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) is mandatory. Tumors are a group of malignant cells that constantly interact with the TME, which contains different cell types, such as immune cells [4]. The reciprocal interaction between lymphoma cells and immune cells (such as T and B cells) plays a key role in cancer initiation and progression [6,7]. Immune cell function in the TME is affected by epigenetic alterations, which contributes to a favorable environment for tumor growth. The underlying epigenetic mechanisms that govern both tumor and immune cells can be used as a strategy to disrupt this interaction and contribute to developing therapeutic strategies against cancer
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