p53, cancer and the immune response.

The importance of cancer-cell-autonomous functions of the tumour suppressor p53 (encoded by TP53 ) has been established in many studies, but it is now clear that the p53 status of the cancer cell also has a profound impact on the immune response. Loss or mutation of p53 in cancers can affect the recruitment and activity of myeloid and T cells, allowing immune evasion and promoting cancer progression. p53 can also function in immune cells, resulting in various outcomes that can impede or support tumour development. Understanding the role of p53 in tumour and immune cells will help in the development of therapeutic approaches that can harness the differential p53 status of cancers compared with most normal tissue.
Competing Interests: Competing interestsK.H.V. is on the Board of Directors and shareholder of Bristol Myers Squibb, a shareholder of GRAIL, Inc. and on the Science Advisory Board of PMV Pharma, RAZE Therapeutics, Volestra Therapeutics and Ludwig Cancer. She is a co-founder and consultant of Faeth Therapeutics, funded by Khosla Ventures. She has been in receipt of research funding from Astex Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca and contributed to CRUK Cancer Research Technology filing of Patent Application WO/2017/144877.
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