The Role of Cathelicidin LL-37 in Cancer Development

LL-37 is a C-terminal peptide proteolytically released from 18 kDa human cathelicidin protein (hCAP18). Chronic infections, inflammation, tissue injury and tissue regeneration are all linked with neoplastic growth, and involve LL-37 antibacterial and immunomodulatory functions. Such a link points to the possible involvement of LL-37 peptide in carcinogenesis. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that LL-37 can have two different and contradictory effects—promotion or inhibition of tumor growth. The mechanisms are tissue-specific, complex, and depend mostly on the ability of LL-37 to act as a ligand for different membrane receptors whose expression varies on different cancer cells. Overexpression of LL-37 was found to promote development and progression of ovarian, lung and breast cancers, and to suppress tumorigenesis in colon and gastric cancer. This review explores and summarizes the current views on how LL-37 contributes to immunity, pathophysiology and cell signaling involved in malignant tumor growth.