Regulatory circuits of T cell function in cancer

T cell dysfunction ('exhaustion') occurs in chronic infection and cancerMechanisms of T cell dysfunction are partly disease specific and are partly shared between different diseasesT cell dysfunction depends on antigens, co-stimulation, T cell inhibitory cells, metabolic pathways and soluble factors of the tumour microenvironmentT cells are regulated by signals of the T cell receptor and co-activating, inhibitory and cytokine receptorsT cell inhibition frequently occurs via evolutionarily conserved mechanisms known to function in most inflammatory diseases, assuring efficient downregulation of lymphocyte cytotoxicity to avoid extended tissue damageT cell inhibition can also occur via mechanisms that cancer cells acquired by somatic mutations