Investigating integrin-linked kinase (ILK) as a therapeutic target in colorectal cancer

The mortality rate in colorectal cancer patients is high due to the limited benefits of current treatments including immunotherapy which in turn lead to high demand for identifying novel molecular regulators to be targeted therapeutically. Here we have identified that integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is associated with cancer prognosis and characterizes the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. ILK expression is also implicated in cancer cell growth and therapy-induced senescence as well as is involved in promoting a resistance of cancer cells against immune cell cytotoxicity. These findings suggest possible clinical avenues of targeting ILK combined with current colorectal cancer therapy, specifically immunotherapy.