B cells and innate immune cells: roles in cancer, autoimmune disorders, and therapeutic interventions

B cells and innate immune cells, like natural killer cells, macrophages, and neutrophils, have shown important contributions to the progression and control of cancer and autoimmune disorders. In tumorigenesis, cancer cells disrupt the immune equilibrium between neoplasms and immune cells and evade immune destruction via multiple mechanisms. Conversely, in autoimmune disorders, dysregulated inflammation and damage arise from the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy cells. Cancer and autoimmune disorders are both, at their core, chronic diseases shaped by genetic and environmental factors in which dysregulated immune responses play a central role.This Research Topic aims to unravel the roles of B cells and innate immune cells in cancer and autoimmune disorders. This collection will provide a comprehensive systematic overview to help researchers in the field gain in-depth understanding of diseases’ onset and control. Moreover, therapeutic interventions could arise based on immunological understanding of B cells and innate immune cells in cancer and autoimmune disorders, which provide insights into the field of drug discovery and drug development. For instance, B cell is traditionally recognized as a major player of humoral immunity and attracted limited focus as a therapeutic target to treat cancer. Nevertheless, the presence of B cells has shown a positive association with better clinical outcomes across multiple types of cancer. B cell, as an antigen-presenting cell and cytokine-secreting cell, can crosstalk with CD4 T cell or even CD8 T cell to boost anti-tumor immune responses. Antibodies produced by B cells can also potentiate the antitumor activity of innate effector cells, including natural killer cells and macrophages, through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), respectively. These mechanistic insights are increasingly being translated into therapeutic strategies. CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy, such as BMS-986353, has recently shown promising efficacy across multiple chronic autoimmune diseases, with Phase 1 results reported in 2025. On the innate immune cell side, CAR-macrophage therapy, such as CT-0508, has shown early clinical proof-of-concept for treating HER2-overexpressing solid tumors, with first-in-human results also reported in 2025.This Research Topic welcomes Brief Research Report, Case Report, Classification, Clinical Trial, and General manuscripts that investigate the following themes:1. The role of B cells in the progression and control of cancer or autoimmune disorders.2. The role of innate immune cells in the progression and control of cancer or autoimmune disorders.3. Therapeutic interventions to modulate B cells to treat cancer or autoimmune disorders.4. Therapeutic interventions to modulate innate immune cells to treat cancer or autoimmune disorders.Manuscripts focused primarily on cancer or autoimmune disorders without direct relevance to B cell or innate immune cell biology are outside the scope of this Research Topic. Topic editors: Chengyi Li, WEI GAO, Anastasia Nijnik Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/74050/b-cells-and-innate-immune-cells-roles-in-cancer-autoimmune-disorders-and-therapeutic-interventions