Tumor Necrosis Factor: What Is in a Name?

Simple Summary Cytokines are small molecules that modify the response of the human body to external signals. Tumor Necrosis Factor was found in 1975 and its main activity was assumed to be lethal for cancer cells and to be able to kill tumors, hence the name. Research over the last 35 years has shown that this is not really the case. This review illuminates what caused this misunderstanding and answers the question if there is any connection at all between the cytokine Tumor Necrosis Factor and cancer. Tumor Necrosis Factor was one of the first cytokines described in the literature as a soluble mediator of cytotoxicity to tumors. Over the years, more extensive research that tried to employ Tumor Necrosis Factor in cancer treatments showed nevertheless that it mainly functioned as a proinflammatory cytokine. However, this did not stop the search for the holy grail of cancer research: A cytokine that could act as a one-stop treatment for solid tumors and lymphomas. This review will summarize the long experimental history of Tumor Necrosis Factor that caused the initial observations of a tumor necrotizing cytokine that could serve as a potential cancer treatment and discuss the current state of research into this side of the activities of Tumor Necrosis Factor.

Automated summary

Tumor Necrosis Factor was initially thought to be deadly to cancer cells and tumors, but recent research reveals it primarily functions as a proinflammatory cytokine. Despite this, the search continues for a cytokine that can serve as a one-stop treatment for solid tumors and lymphomas.