6-shogaol, an active constituent of dietary ginger, impairs cancer development and lung metastasis by inhibiting the secretion of CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) in tumor-associated dendritic cells.

This study has two novel findings: it is not only the first to demonstrate that tumor-associated dendritic cells (TADCs) facilitate lung and breast cancer metastasis in vitro and in vivo by secreting inflammatory mediator CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), but it is also the first to reveal that 6-shogaol can decrease cancer development and progression by inhibiting the production of TADC-derived CCL2. Human lung cancer A549 and breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells increase TADCs to express high levels of CCL2, which increase cancer stem cell features, migration, and invasion, as well as immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophage infiltration. 6-Shogaol decreases cancer-induced up-regulation of CCL2 in TADCs, preventing the enhancing effects of TADCs on tumorigenesis and metastatic properties in A549 and MDA-MB-231 cells. A549 and MDA-MB-231 cells enhance CCL2 expression by increasing the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and the activation of STAT3 induced by A549 and MDA-MB-231 is completely inhibited by 6-shogaol. 6-Shogaol also decreases the metastasis of lung and breast cancers in mice. 6-Shogaol exerts significant anticancer effects on lung and breast cells in vitro and in vivo by targeting the CCL2 secreted by TADCs. Thus, 6-shogaol may have the potential of being an efficacious immunotherapeutic agent for cancers.