Immunotherapy of urologic tumors: principles and progress

Immunotherapy is receiving interest as an alternative or adjuvant approach to the treatment of many malignancies. The potential for immune modulation as a treatment of solid tumors is the focus of cancer researchers throughout the world. Though not a novel idea, increasing technological sophistication and continued advancement in the understanding of the immune system have increased the number of novel therapeutic approaches. In urology, BCG is an excellent example of how modulation of the immune system can be used to treat malignancy, and we are only now beginning to understand its immune mechanisms. Numerous other immunotherapeutic approaches have been and are being developed and evaluated. We provide a brief overview of immunology and its relation to tumor development and growth, and focus on some of the immunotherapeutic approaches to renal cell carcinoma, prostate adenocarcinoma, and transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.