Table 1.

Role of NLRP3 inflammasome activation or suppression in cancer development

Type of cancer	Source of experimental evidence	Outcome	Suggested mechanism	References
HNSCC	- HNSCC cell lines (A253) -Oral cancer tissue	Activation of NLRP3 inflmmasome closely associated with survival and invasiveness of HNSCC	Activation of IL-1β	[99]
	-HNSCC tissue - HNSCC cell lines(CAL27, SCC9, SCC25, and FaDu) - transgenic mouse HNSCC model	NLRP3 inflammasome related with the tumorgenesis and CSCs markers self-renewal activation	-overexpression of CSCs markers (BMI1, ALDH1 and CD44)	[100]
GBM	-U87 and GL261 xenograft mouse GBM model	NLRP3 inflammasome involved in resistance to radiotherapy	-regulation of numerous aging-related genes in hippocampus	[150]
OSCC	- OSC cells lines (WS UHN6 and C AL27) -NLRP3−/− and Caspase1−/− mice -OSCC tissue	NLRP3 inflammasome increased resistance of OSCC to 5-FU	Promotion of the IL-1β production	[106]
BC	- BC cell lines(LLC and E0771) -C57BL/6 mice	tumor-infiltrating regulation of NLRP3 strongly linked with tumor invasiveness, migration and outcome	IL-1β secretion and S1PR1 signaling	[123]
GC	-GC tissue -GC cell lines (SGC-7901, BGC-823, HGC-27 and AGS) -normal gastric epithelial cell line (GES-1)	NLRP3 inflammasome stimulates epithelial cells proliferation and GC carcinogenesis	-IL-1 β secretion -enhance cyclin-D1 transcription	[77]
CAC	-NLRP3−/−, Pycard−/− and Caspase1−/− mice	Mice with inflammasome compartment deficiency were extremely susceptible to AOM/DSS- induced colitis	-reduction in IL-18	[67]
	-NLRP3−/− mouse	NLRP3−/− mouse is more susceptible to acute and recurrence CAC	-increasing pro–IL-1β and IL-18 secretion	[85]
	-NLRP3−/− and Caspase1−/− mice	NLRP3−/− and Caspase1−/− mice were more susceptible to AOM/DSS-induced inflammation and increased tumor burdens	- NLRP3 inflammasome deficiency lead to reduction in secretion and activation of the tumor IFN-γ and STAT1	[86]
	-NLRP3−/−, ASC−/−, Caspase1−/−, cathepsin B−/− or cathepsin L−/−mice-	NLRP deficient mice were significantly protected from colitis	IL-1β secretion was abrogated in macrophages without NLRP3, ASC or Caspase-1	[165]
CRC	-CRC and adjacent normal tissue	NLRP3 gene variation are correlated with worse survival	-elevatating IL-1β and IL-6 levels	[89]
CRC metastatic in liver	-Inflammasome components −/− mouse	NLRP3 inflammasome inhibits liver CRC metastatic growth	-enhancing NK cell tumoricidal action	[91]
Fibrosarcoma	-NLRP3−/− mouse model	NLRP3-deficient mice were less resistant to tumor formation	-NLRP3 suppressed NK cell	[116]
Melanoma	-Human melanoma cell lines (A375) -mouse melanoma cell lines (B16F10)	Inhibition of NLRP3 inflmmasome blocked melanoma migration	-inhibition of NLRP3 inflmmasome suppressed secretion of cytokines IL-1β and IL-18	[139]
Cervical Cancer	-HPV+ and adjacent normal tissue	NLRP3 polymorphism related with a lower risk of HPV infection	-innate immune anti-viral response - obliteration of virus persistence and viral elimination	[144]
Lung cancer	-human alveolar epithelial adenocarcinoma cell line (A549)	NLRP3 inflmmasome regulate the proliferation and metastasis of lung cancer	-promoting phosphorylation of Akt, ERK1/2, and CREB -enhancing the expression of Snail -decrement of E-cadherin expression	[112]
HCC	-HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues	-Down regulation of all of the NLRP3 inflammasome elements associated with HCC occurrence, advanced tumor stages and poor differentiation	NR	[96]

Abbreviations: ASC apoptosis-associated speck-like protein, AOM/DSS Azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulphate, BC Breast cancer, CAC colitis-associated colorectal cancer, CSCs cancer stem cells, CRC Colorectal cancer, GC Gastric cancer, GBM Glioblastoma; HCC hepatocellular carcinoma, HNSCC head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in humans, NK Natural killer cell, OSCC oral squamous cell carcinoma, 5-FU 5-fluorouracil, NR not reported