Interleukin-1β and cancer immune response

IL-1β belongs to the IL-1 family and has the particularity to need to be cleaved by caspase-1 to be active. Once processed, IL-1β is secreted and binds to IL-1R1 on target cells, leading to the transcription of specific genes. Within a tumor, IL-1β is produced and secreted by various cell types, such as immune cells, fibroblasts or cancer cells and has pleiotropic effects on immune cells, angiogenesis, cancer cell proliferation, migration and metastasis. Thus, depending on the cancer type, the treatments or the tumor microenvironment (TME), IL-1β has opposite effects on cancer progression, thus raising the question of inducing or inhibiting IL-1β. Here, we will analyze the impact of IL-1β on cancer cells and immune cells of the TME in different types of cancers.