Immunobiology of Cancer

One of the results of three decades of very fast research into the mechanisms of cancer pathogenesis has been the advent of mechanism-based targeted medicines for the treatment of human tumours. The complex and dynamic interaction between cancerous cells and the immune system is reflected in the immunobiology of cancer. Over the past 15 years, there has been a renewed focus on cancer immunosurveillance, which has expanded to include cancer immunoediting. The latter contends that the immune system both shapes tumour immunogenicity and shields the host from the emergence of primary nonviral malignancies. It is backed by compelling correlative data from research on human cancer as well as robust experimental data from mice tumour models. Three stages make up the process of cancer immunoediting: equilibrium, escape, and elimination (also known as cancer immunosurveillance). We provide a summary of the evidence for each of the three cancer immunoediting steps below. The main ideas of immunobiology in cancer are briefly reviewed in this chapter, along with the most recent developments in using the immune system to treat cancer. We also explore the function of inflammation and its dual effects on tumour growth: acute inflammation may aid in immune responses against cancer, but chronic inflammation may promote carcinogenesis.