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REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1506278
The Role of Immunotherapy in Targeting Tumor Microenvironment in Genitourinary Cancers
Provisionally accepted- 1 Jersey City Medical Center, Jersey City, United States
- 2 Ege University, Bornova, İzmir, Türkiye
- 3 Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, United States
- 4 Dokuz Eylül University, Alsancak, İzmir, Türkiye
- 5 Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- 6 Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genitourinary (GU) cancers, including renal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and testicular cancer, represent a significant health burden and are among the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite advancements in traditional treatment modalities such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, the complex interplay within the tumor microenvironment (TME) poses substantial hurdles to achieving durable remission and cure. The TME, characterized by its dynamic and multifaceted nature, comprises various cell types, signaling molecules, and the extracellular matrix, all of which are instrumental in cancer progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance. Recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy (IO) have opened a new era in the management of GU cancers, offering renewed hope by leveraging the body's immune system to combat cancer more selectively and effectively. This approach, distinct from conventional therapies, aims to disrupt cancer's ability to evade immune detection through mechanisms such as checkpoint inhibition, therapeutic vaccines, and adoptive cell transfer therapies. These strategies highlight the shift towards personalized medicine, emphasizing the importance of understanding the intricate dynamics within the TME for the development of targeted treatments. This article provides an in-depth overview of the current landscape of treatment strategies for GU cancers, with a focus on IO targeting the specific cell types of TME. By exploring the roles of various cell types within the TME and their impact on cancer progression, this review aims to underscore the transformative potential of IO strategies in TME targeting, offering more effective and personalized treatment options for patients with GU cancers, thereby improving outcomes and quality of life.
Keywords: Immunotherapy (IO), Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), PD-1, PD-L1, T cells, genitourinary cancers (GU), Tumor microenvironment (TME)
Received: 04 Oct 2024; Accepted: 19 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kalemoglu, Jani, Canaslan and Bilen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mehmet Asim Bilen, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.