Progress and Development of Cytokines Therapy

Abstract

Cytokines are known as a group of protein messengers released by infected cells. This process takes place at the cell membrane: the cytokines bind with the specific receptors to present a signal to warn the existence of invaders and activate the defender to destroy the invaders and prevent further separation. After a long history of discovery and evolution, cytokines are now regarded as an effective cancer therapy and an important basis for new medicine development. Although the bottlenecks of the cytokines still exist, scientists are studying new developments to avoid some potential risks and problems, and achieve higher improvement on the existing basis. The possible future development in the field also has great expectancy. By combining various methods, the efficacy of drugs can be significantly improved, and some side effects can be avoided; by combining nanotechnology and light control technology, drugs can achieve specific and targeted treatment. This overview of the progress and development of cytokines includes the introduction of types and mechanisms of typical types of cytokines, application of cytokines in the therapy of specific cancer, the bottleneck of the present stage of cytokines, and possible directions of future improvement.