Experimental and Applied Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is now recognized as an essential component of treatment for a wide variety of cancers. It is an interdisciplinary field that is critically dependent upon an improved understanding of a vast network of cross-regulatory cellular populations a
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Jeffrey Medin Daniel Fowler ●
Editors
Experimental and Applied Immunotherapy
Editors Jeffrey Medin University of Toronto University Health Network Toronto, Ontario Canada [email protected]
Daniel Fowler National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute Experimental Transplatation and Immunology Branch Bethesda, Maryland USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-60761-979-6 e-ISBN 978-1-60761-980-2 DOI 10.1007/978-1-60761-980-2 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Human press , c/o Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Humana Press is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword (Précis)
Immunotherapy is now recognized as an essential component of treatment for a wide variety of cancers. Established immunotherapies include bone marrow transplantation, donor leukocyte infusions, immune adjuvants, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and most recently, vaccines. Experimental cancer immunotherapies on the near horizon are likely to be more potent, less toxic, and more cost effective than many of the therapies that are currently in use. The immune system is a complex and powerful defense system. The ultimate purpose of immunity is to generate responses that protect from pathogenic microorganisms. Mounting evidence, first derived from experiments in mice, indicates that the immune system also plays a role in the control and spread of a variety of cancers. Metastases account for about 90% of cancer mortality. At face value, the trafficking and highly specific tumor recognition of lymphocytes coupled with the tissue penetration of antibodies and other immune effector molecules is a promising approach to prevent and treat metastatic tumor deposits. The realization that cancer may be regarded as a “non-healing wound” and that the development of cancer is intimately related to inflammation has led to fundamental changes in the approach to cancer immunotherapy. The immune system has evolved a large number of regulatory pathways that serve to limit inflammation and tissue damage during chronic inflammation. An improved understanding of the tumor microenvironment has led to strategies to interrupt immune suppressive regulatory circuits so that immune effector cells and cytokines can be more potent. Basic research
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