Principles of Immuno-Oncology

Abstract

The major function of the immune system is to initiate immunologic responses to protect the host against invading or infectious pathogens and to maintain homeostatic balance. The immune system also has an important role in anticancer response. There are numerous checkpoints that moderate immune responses, to repress autoimmunity and regulate the amplitude and duration of T cell responses. Since some tumours benefit from these checkpoint pathways to escape antitumour immune responses, the blockade of checkpoint molecules is being studied as a therapeutic anticancer strategy. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) are immune checkpoint pathways with the potential for therapeutic anticancer targeting.