The discovery of cancer immune surveillance and immunotherapy has opened up a new era of cancer treatment. Immunotherapies modulate a patient’s immune system to specifically eliminate cancer cells; thus, it is considered a very different approach from classic cancer therapies that usually induce DNA damage to cause cell death in a cell-intrinsic manner. However, recent studies have revealed that classic cancer therapies such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy also elicit antitumor immunity, which plays an essential role in their therapeutic efficacy. The cytosolic DNA sensor cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and the downstream effector Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) have been determined to be critical for this interplay. Here, we review the antitumor roles of the cGAS-STING pathway during tumorigenesis, cancer immune surveillance, and cancer therapies. We also highlight classic cancer therapies that elicit antitumor immune responses through cGAS activation.

癌症免疫监视和免疫治疗的发现，开启了癌症治疗的新纪元。免疫疗法调节患者的免疫系统以特异性消除癌细胞；因此，它被认为是一种与经典癌症疗法截然不同的方法，后者通常会诱导 DNA 损伤以细胞固有的方式导致细胞死亡。然而，最近的研究表明，经典的癌症疗法如放疗和化疗也能引发抗肿瘤免疫，这对其治疗效果起着至关重要的作用。已确定细胞溶质 DNA 传感器环 GMP-AMP 合酶 (cGAS) 和干扰素基因下游效应刺激物 (STING) 对这种相互作用至关重要。在这里，我们回顾了 cGAS-STING 通路在肿瘤发生、癌症免疫监测、和癌症治疗。我们还重点介绍了通过 cGAS 激活引发抗肿瘤免疫反应的经典癌症疗法。