Immune Surveillance and Immune Escape in Cancer: Mechanisms and Immunotherapy

Despite the tremendous amount of basic knowledge in cancer immunity gained and many transitional approaches attempted, current cancer immunotherapies are still far from reaching universal effectiveness. Therefore, next-generation cancer immunotherapies would emerge from deepened mechanistic insights on the full spectrum of cellular and molecular interactions between cancer cells and their immune sentinels. This review embarks on an exhaustive exploration of the cardinal immunological principles that catalyze robust cancer surveillance and their potential escapes and recapitulate the state-of-art understanding of both receptors and corresponding immune cell types involved. Both tumor intrinsic and tumor microenvironmental mediators of immune escapes are outlined in the context of current clinic applications. Following emphasizing the exceptional requisites that effective cancer immunity cycle must meet, specific cellular subsets crucial for igniting tumor immunity, notably effector and helper T cells alongside antigen presentation cells are examined, focusing on their close interactions in both antigen-dependent and -independent manners. Such intricate interactions form dynamic immune hubs at the tumor site, holding promising key functionality in rendering effective cancer retreat. Grounded on these recent insights, refined immunotherapeutic strategies, especially those bolstering priming based anticancer effector functions are advocated.