[Immunological tumor therapy]

Tumor cells could fundamentally be recognized and eliminated by the immune system but malignant cells are able to escape the immune surveillance system. The idea of immunotherapy of cancer is to activate, modulate and amplify the host immune response or to genetically equip the immune repertoire of patients with anti-tumor specificities and effectors. In recent years, a variety of promising immunotherapy strategies have been developed, such as bispecific, multispecific and immunoregulatory antibodies, gene-modified T lymphocytes and tumor vaccines. Some drugs have already been approved and others are available for patients in clinical trials. This article presents the current anti-tumor immune strategies and their molecular basis. Even though further research is needed in some areas, such as the establishment of biomarkers for targeted therapy, duration of therapeutic activity and compatibility of combined strategies, cancer immunotherapy is likely to be a key component in oncological treatment concepts in the very near future.