The existence of
autoantibodies towards an individual's own
proteins or
nucleic acids has been established for more than 100years, and for a long period, these
autoantibodies have been believed to be closely associated with
autoimmune diseases. However, in recent years, researchers have become more interested in the role and application of
autoantibodies in progression, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of human malignant tumours. Over the past few decades, numerous epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of certain
cancers is significantly altered (increased or decreased) in patients with
autoimmune diseases, which suggests that
autoantibodies may play either promoting or suppressing roles in
cancer progression. The idea that
autoantibodies are directly involved in tumour progression gains special support by the findings that some
antibodies secreted by a variety of
cancer cells can promote their proliferation and
metastasis. Because the
cancer cells generate cell antigenic changes (neoantigens), which trigger the immune system to produce
autoantibodies, serum
autoantibodies against tumour-associated
antigens have been established as a novel type of
cancer biomarkers and have been extensively studied in different types of
cancer. The
autoantibodies as
biomarkers in
cancer diagnosis are not only more sensitive and specific than
antigens, but also could appear before clinical evidences of the tumours, thus disclosing them. The observations that
cancer risk is lower in patients with some
autoimmune diseases suggest that certain
autoantibodies may be protective from certain
cancers. Moreover, the presence of
autoantibodies in healthy individuals implies that it could be safe to employ
autoantibodies to treat
cancer. Of note, an
autoantibodies derived from lupus murine model received much attention due to their selective cytotoxicity for malignant tumour cell without harming normal ones. These studies showed the therapeutic value of
autoantibodies in
cancer. In this review, we revisited the pathological or protective role of
autoantibodies in
cancer progression, summarize the application of
autoantibodies in
cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and discuss the value of
autoantibodies in
cancer therapy. The studies established to date suggest that
autoantibodies not only regulate
cancer progression but also promise to be valuable instruments in oncological diagnosis and
therapy.