临床上局限性前列腺癌通常采用根治性前列腺切除术联合盆腔淋巴结清扫术进行治疗。数据表明，淋巴结清扫术确实可以改善疾病分期，但其治疗价值经常受到争议，很少有研究表明淋巴结清扫术可以直接改善肿瘤学结果；然而，淋巴结是抗原识别和免疫系统激活的重要起始部位，许多当前使用的免疫疗法的成功取决于这一法则。证据，特别是在临床前环境中，已经证明免疫检查点抑制剂的成功会因肿瘤引流淋巴结的切除而受到抑制。因此，在肿瘤护理中，淋巴结到底是真正的“敌人”还是实际上的“朋友”是一个值得讨论的重要观点。© 2024。Springer Nature Limited。

Clinically localized prostate cancer is often treated with radical prostatectomy combined with pelvic lymph node dissection. Data suggest that lymph node dissection does improve disease staging, but its therapeutic value has often been debated, with few studies showing that lymph node removal directly improves oncological outcomes; however, lymph nodes are an important first site of antigen recognition and immune system activation and the success of many currently used immunological therapies hinges on this dogma. Evidence, particularly in the preclinical setting, has demonstrated that the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors is dampened by the removal of tumour-draining lymph nodes. Thus, whether lymph nodes are truly 'foes' or whether they are actually 'friends' in oncological care is an important idea to discuss.© 2024. Springer Nature Limited.