[Antitumour Weapons of the Immune System]

Immune system is principally capable to recognize and eliminate tumor cells, using several mechanisms (phagocytes, antibodies, NK-cells, cytotoxic Tlymphocytes). These immune weapons are usually not sufficiently efficient as tumor cells are mostly evaluated by the immune system as too similar to normal cells and the tumor microenvironment is very immunosuppressive.

Recent marked progress in elucidation of mechanisms underlying the relationships between the immune system and tumor cells made it possible to develop a number of very promising immunotherapeutic approaches, including monoclonal antibodies recognizing tumor antigens, antibodies blocking T cell inhibitory receptors, bispecific antibody constructs, in vitro expansion and stimulation of tumor specific Tlymphocytes, chimeric antigenic receptors expressed in T cells or dendritic cellbased vaccines. Immunotherapy of neoplastic diseases is apparently becoming reality.