免疫表观遗传学是一个不断发展的领域，因为越来越多的证据表明表观遗传机制在调节肿瘤免疫细胞识别和控制免疫细胞抗肿瘤反应中发挥了关键作用。此外，表观遗传调控与前列腺癌（PCa）的发展和进展越来越被认可。PCa本质上是一种冷瘤，免疫细胞浸润很少，瘤内炎症微环境低。然而，天然杀伤细胞（NK细胞）作为主要的抗肿瘤效应免疫细胞，经常与改善PCa预后相关联。表观遗传相关机制在调节NK细胞识别PCa肿瘤细胞和调节NK细胞在PCa中的功能方面的作用仍然主要是未知的。表观遗传调控药物已经展示了无限的治疗潜力作为抗肿瘤剂，但它们在免疫细胞调节和识别方面的作用是有限的。在本文中，我们重点关注调节NK细胞介导的反应中涉及的表观遗传机制的研究，包括在不同肿瘤模型中表观遗传调控的肿瘤细胞NK配体表达以及NK细胞受体表达和功能的研究，重点介绍PCa研究。从促进多种肿瘤模型中NK细胞介导的免疫的不同表观遗传调控机制的综合知识，可能为PCa管理的新型表观遗传治疗选择开辟新的途径。版权所有©2023年dos Reis, Jerónimo和Correia。

Immunoepigenetics is a growing field, as there is mounting evidence on the key role played by epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of tumor immune cell recognition and control of immune cell anti-tumor responses. Moreover, it is increasingly acknowledgeable a tie between epigenetic regulation and prostate cancer (PCa) development and progression. PCa is intrinsically a cold tumor, with scarce immune cell infiltration and low inflammatory tumor microenvironment. However, Natural Killer (NK) cells, main anti-tumor effector immune cells, have been frequently linked to improved PCa prognosis. The role that epigenetic-related mechanisms might have in regulating both NK cell recognition of PCa tumor cells and NK cell functions in PCa is still mainly unknown. Epigenetic modulating drugs have been showing boundless therapeutic potential as anti-tumor agents, however their role in immune cell regulation and recognition is scarce. In this review, we focused on studies addressing modulation of epigenetic mechanisms involved in NK cell-mediated responses, including both the epigenetic modulation of tumor cell NK ligand expression and NK cell receptor expression and function in different tumor models, highlighting studies in PCa. The integrated knowledge from diverse epigenetic modulation mechanisms promoting NK cell-mediated immunity in various tumor models might open doors for the development of novel epigenetic-based therapeutic options for PCa management.Copyright © 2023 dos Reis, Jerónimo and Correia.