[Immune system and tumors]

Ann Pathol. 2017 Feb;37(1):11-17. doi: 10.1016/j.annpat.2016.12.004. Epub 2017 Jan 31.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Despite having been much debated, it is now well established that the immune system plays an essential role in the fight against cancer. In this article, we will highlight the implication of the immune system in the control of tumor growth and describe the major components of the immune system involved in the antitumoral immune response. The immune system, while exerting pressure on tumor cells, also will play a pro-tumoral role by sculpting the immunogenicity of tumors cells as they develop. Finally, we will illustrate the numerous mechanisms of immune suppression that take place within the tumoral microenvironment which allow tumor cells to escape control from the immune system. The increasingly precise knowledge of the brakes to an effective antitumor immune response allows the development of immunotherapy strategies more and more innovating and promising of hope.

Keywords: Cancer; Escape; Immune suppression; Immune surveillance; Immunologie; Immunology; Immunosuppression; Immunosurveillance; Échappement.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Neoplasm / immunology
  • Clonal Anergy
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunologic Surveillance / immunology
  • Immunotherapy / methods
  • Killer Cells, Natural / immunology
  • Macrophages / immunology
  • Models, Immunological
  • Myeloid Cells / immunology
  • Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Neoplasms / therapy
  • Neutrophils / immunology
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology
  • Tumor Escape / immunology
  • Tumor Microenvironment / immunology

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm