Harnessing the immune response to treat cancer

Abstract

It is well established that the immune system has the capacity to attack malignant cells. During malignant transformation cells acquire numerous molecular and biochemical changes that render them potentially vulnerable to immune cells. Yet it is self-evident that a growing tumour has managed to evade these host defence mechanisms. The exact ways in which the immune system interacts with tumour cells and how cancers are able to escape immunological eradication have only recently started to be fully elucidated. Understanding the relationship between the tumour and the anti-tumour immune response and how this can be altered with conventional treatments and immune-targeted therapies is crucial to developing new treatments for patients with cancer. In this review, focusing on the anti-tumour T-cell response, we summarize our understanding of how tumours, cancer treatments and the immune system interact, how tumours evade the immune response and how this process could be manipulated for the benefit of patients with cancer.