Over the last 15 years there has been a change in how we understand the impact of the interaction between the tumour and the host on cancer outcomes. From the simplistic view that the make-up of tumours cells largely determines their aggressiveness to a more complex view that the interaction between the products of tumour and host cell signal transduction pathways is crucial in determining whether the tumour cell is eliminated or survives in the host. Of the host cells, those with an immune/inflammatory function are most well documented to inhibit or promote tumour cell proliferation and dissemination.

It is only in the last few years that there has been greater recognition of the impact of intracellular, cellular and systemic immune/inflammatory phenotypes on patient outcomes independent of current tumour staging and that these phenotypes are useful in informing oncological research and practice. In the present review we will examine the importance of inflammatory phenotypes at the intra-cellular, cellular and systemic levels on outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal cancer with focus on colorectal cancer. Based on these phenotypes we will examine and discuss the prospects for therapeutic intervention.

在过去的15年中，我们对肿瘤与宿主之间的相互作用对癌症结局的影响的理解方式发生了变化。从简单的观点来看，肿瘤细胞的构成在很大程度上决定了它们的侵略性，而从更复杂的观点来看，肿瘤产物与宿主细胞信号转导途径之间的相互作用对于确定肿瘤细胞是在宿主中被清除还是存活至关重要。 。在宿主细胞中，具有免疫/炎症功能的宿主细胞被充分证明可以抑制或促进肿瘤细胞的增殖和扩散。

直到最近几年，细胞内，细胞和系统性免疫/炎症表型对患者预后的影响才得到更大的认可，而与当前的肿瘤分期无关，并且这些表型可用于告知肿瘤学研究和实践。在本综述中，我们将研究在胃肠道癌患者（主要是大肠癌）中细胞内，细胞和全身水平的炎症表型对预后的重要性。基于这些表型，我们将检查和讨论治疗干预的前景。