Research advances in the mechanism of acupuncture in regulating tumor immunosuppression / 针刺研究

ABSTRACT

As a characteristic therapy in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has shown potential advantages in anti-tumor therapy, and one of the therapeutic effects of acupuncture is to improve the immunosuppressive conditions in patients with tumor. Based on the immunoregulatory effect of acupuncture, this article summarized the mechanism of acupuncture in regulating tumor immune status from the following aspects stimulating the activation of natural killer cells, increasing the number of CD8+ T cells, and adjusting the balance between T helper 1 cells and T helper 2 cells and between regulatory T cells and T helper 17 cells. With reference to existing evidence, we believe that acupuncture can regulate the body's immunosuppressive conditions through a variety of targets, but further clinical and basic studies are needed to clarify its regulatory effect on tumor immune microenvironment and related mechanism of action.