help button home button The Oncologist
HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Click here to read this article as a CME course


First Published Online December 4, 2008
The Oncologist, Vol. 13, No. 12, 1246-1254, December 2008; doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2008-0166
© 2008 AlphaMed Press

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
theoncologist.2008-0166v1
13/12/1246    most recent
Right arrow eLetters: Submit a response to this article
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article link to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Reprints/Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de la Cruz-Merino, L.
Right arrow Articles by Codes-Manuel de Villena, M. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by de la Cruz-Merino, L.
Right arrow Articles by Codes-Manuel de Villena, M. E.

The Community Oncologist

Cancer and Immune Response: Old and New Evidence for Future Challenges

Luis de la Cruz-Merinoa, Enrique Grande-Pulidob, Ana Albero-Tamarita, Manuel Eduardo Codes-Manuel de Villenaa

aMedical Oncology Department, Virgen de la Macarena University Hospital, Seville, Spain; bPfizer Medical Department, Madrid, Spain

Key Words. Cancer • Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes • Immune tolerance • Cancer vaccines • CTLA-4 • GM-CSF • IL-2

Correspondence: Luis de la Cruz-Merino, M.D., Servicio de Oncología Médica, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Macarena, Avenida Doctor Fedriani, 3, 41071 Sevilla, Spain. Telephone: 0034-955008934/955008932; Fax: 0034-954902219; e-mail: lucme12{at}yahoo.es

Received August 1, 2008; accepted for publication October 28, 2008; first published online in THE ONCOLOGIST Express on December 4, 2008.

Disclosure: Employment/leadership position: Enrique Grande-Pulido, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Intellectual property rights/inventor/patent holder: None; Consultant/advisory role: None; Honoraria: None; Research funding/contracted research: None; Ownership interest: Enrique Grande-Pulido, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Expert testimony: None; Other: None.

The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias. No financial relationships relevant to the content of this article have been disclosed by the authors, planners, independent peer reviewers, or staff managers.

Cancer may occur as a result of abnormal host immune system tolerance. Recent studies have confirmed the occurrence of spontaneous and induced antitumor immune responses expressed as the presence of tumor-infiltrating T cells in the tumor microenvironment in some cancer models. This finding has been recognized as a good prognostic factor in several types of tumors. Some chemotherapy agents, such as anthracyclines and gemcitabine, are effective boosters of the immune response through tumor-specific antigen overexpression after apoptotic tumor cell destruction. Other strategies, such as GM-CSF or interleukin-2, are pursued to increase immune cell availability in the tumor vicinity, and thus improve both antigen presentation and T-cell activation and proliferation. In addition, cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4–blocking monoclonal antibodies enhance immune activity by prolonging T-cell activation. Strategies to stimulate the dormant immune system against tumors are varied and warrant further investigation of their applications to cancer therapy in the future.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Cancer Prevention ResearchHome page
T. Kozu, G. Iinuma, Y. Ohashi, Y. Saito, T. Akasu, D. Saito, D. B. Alexander, M. Iigo, T. Kakizoe, and H. Tsuda
Effect of Orally Administered Bovine Lactoferrin on the Growth of Adenomatous Colorectal Polyps in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
Cancer Prevention Research, November 1, 2009; 2(11): 975 - 983.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
JNCI J Natl Cancer InstHome page
D. Michod, A. Annibaldi, S. Schaefer, C. Dapples, B. Rochat, and C. Widmann
Effect of RasGAP N2 Fragment-Derived Peptide on Tumor Growth in Mice
J Natl Cancer Inst, June 2, 2009; 101(11): 828 - 832.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ONCOLOGIST STEM CELLS CME ALPHAMED PRESS JOURNALS


Copyright © 2008 by AlphaMed Press.