Unraveling the Immune Microenvironment of Thymic Epithelial Tumors: Implications for Autoimmunity and Treatment.

ABSTRACT: Thymic Epithelial Tumors (TETs) represent a rare tumor family, originating from the epithelial component of the thymus gland. Clinicopathologically, they are segregated into six major subtypes, associated with distinct histological features and clinical outcomes. Their emergence and evolution are accompanied by the generation of a complex tumor microenvironment (TME), dominated by phenotypically and functionally divergent immune cellular subsets, in different maturation states and in analogies that vary significantly among different subtypes. These heterogenous leukocyte populations exert either immune-permissive and tumor-suppressive functions or vice versa, and the dynamic equilibrium established among them either dictates the tumor immune milieu towards an immune-tolerance state or enab

SUBMITTER: Masaoutis C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9323059 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature