[The immunodiagnosis and immunotherapy of tumors]

Recent studies into the immunology of tumors have allowed the oncological use of immunological methods to be substantially extended. This increases the potentialities of immunodiagnosis, primarily to identify a number of tumor-associated antigens, which has promoted early differential diagnosis and monitoring of the course of disease. On the other hand, diagnosis of immunodeficiencies in cancer patients has become better: a panel of monoclonal antibodies to differentiated immunocompetent cell antigens has been developed, their subpopulations revealed, the time course of whose quantitative composition correlates with the clinical course and prognosis of disease. Evidence for immunological disorders serves as a basis for using different immunotherapies in the complex treatment of cancer patients. Present-day oncological care uses a great variety of immunomodulators; however, preferable treatment includes cytokines (interferons, interleukins) whose application substantially enhances the efficiency of treatment in patients having certain tumors. Progress in biotechnology and gene engineering has contributed to the development of new trends in the therapy of tumors, namely the design of anticancer vaccines obtained by inserting the genes of cytokines and their receptors, tumor-associated antigens and other agents into the genome of a tumor cell. So far single clinical observations are yielding promising results.