The genetic and cellular basis of regulation of the immune response to tumor antigens

Abstract

In this chapter I have dealt with the cellular and genetic basis of regulation of the immune response to tumor antigen. I have knowingly omitted discussion of effectors such as ADCC, NK, and B cells, since my own experience with such effectors relates primarily to early events associated with small-tumor inocula (Greenberg and Greene, 1976). In that model, NK and ADCC mechanisms, in which natural antibody and macrophages participate, are of importance and T cells are not. In the studies I have dealt with herein, more advanced tumor models have been evaluated. It is clear, I hope, from this chapter that understanding the pathways to immune-cell or Ts activation will provide the basis for applied immunotherapy techniques in the future.