Application of dsRNA in Cancer Immunotherapy: Current Status and Future Trends

Cancer cells create a microenvironment that prevents tumor rejection by the host's immune system. The activation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) can elicit an innate immune response and guide the adaptive immune response to overcome this. dsRNA analogs can trigger TLR3, RIG-I, MDA5, NLRP3 and several other PRRs to induce not only robust immune response against cancer but also programmed cell death. This review focuses on the signal pathways activated by dsRNA and examines examples of their clinical application in cancer treatment. Keywords: Adjuvant, cancer vaccine, cross-presentation, cytokine, cytotoxic T lymphocyte, dendritic cell, double-stranded RNA, inflammasome, immune response, immunoediting, immunotherapy, melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5, nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat containing gene family pyrin domain 3, polyadenylic-polyuridylic acid, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, poly (I:C12U), poly (ICLC), retinoic acid-inducible gene-I, T helper cell, toll-like receptor, tumor, tumor associated antigen.