Mesenchymal stromal cells and interferon α (IFNα) in cancer immunotherapy

In the past decade, there has been particular excitement for the inclusion of immunotherapy approaches for the treatment of cancer, beyond conventional chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapies (1). Immunotherapy approaches are now designed mainly to overcome tumor immune evasion mechanisms and allow targeting of neoplastic cells by antitumor immune responses (1). The importance of both innate and adaptive immune responses against tumor growth has been supported by evidence from spontaneous and carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in vivo models (2).