Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine

 


Review Article

Antitumour immune responses

Roshni Mitra a1, Sarvjeet Singh a1 and Ashok Khar a1c1
a1 Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India.

Abstract

The role of the immune system in combating tumour progression has been studied extensively. The two branches of the immune response – humoral and cell-mediated – act both independently and in concert to combat tumour progression, the success of which depends on the immunogenicity of the tumour cells. The immune system discriminates between transformed cells and normal cells by virtue of the presence of unique antigens on tumour cells. Despite this, the immune system is not always able to detect and kill cancerous cells because neoplasms have also evolved various strategies to escape immune surveillance. Attempts are being made to trigger the immune system into an early and efficient response against malignant cells, and various therapeutic modalities are being developed to enhance the strength of the immune response against tumours. This review aims to elucidate the tumouricidal role of various components of the immune system, including macrophages, lymphocytes, dendritic cells and complement.


Key Words: Tumour immunity; tumour cell death; tumour antigen; cytokines; humoral immunity; cellular immunity; tumour; tumor cell death; tumor antigen; tumor.

Correspondence:
c1 Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India. Tel: +91 40 7160222; Fax: +91 40 7160591/7160311; E-mail: khar@ccmb.res.in