Gross Stefanie, Walden Peter
Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Allergy, Clinical Research Group Tumor Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10098 Berlin, Germany.
Immunol Lett. 2008 Feb 15;116(1):7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2007.11.012. Epub 2007 Dec 17.
Tumor cells often evoke specific immune responses that, however, fail to eliminate all the tumor cells. The development of cancer immunotherapies is, therefore, mostly focused on the generation of large numbers of activated anti-tumor effector cells by vaccination or adoptive T cell transfer. These developments are built on an ever-extended list of identified tumor-associated antigens and corresponding T cell epitopes, and a steady flow of reports from proof-of-principle animal model experiments demonstrating cure from disease by immune interventions. However, the promises have not translated into clinical successes for cancer patients. Even where tumor regression or complete responses were achieved there is usually relapse of the disease. Increasing numbers of reports over recent years highlight potential immunosuppressive mechanisms that act in tumors and systemically in cancer patients to block effective anti-tumor immune responses. They account in large parts for the failures of cancer immunotherapy and need to be overcome before progress can be expected. We review here the current state of the research on immunosuppressive networks in human cancer.
肿瘤细胞常常引发特异性免疫反应，然而，这些免疫反应却无法清除所有肿瘤细胞。因此，癌症免疫疗法的发展主要集中在通过疫苗接种或过继性T细胞转移来产生大量活化的抗肿瘤效应细胞。这些进展建立在不断扩充的已鉴定肿瘤相关抗原和相应T细胞表位清单之上，以及一系列来自原理验证动物模型实验的报告，这些报告表明免疫干预可治愈疾病。然而，这些前景尚未转化为癌症患者的临床成功。即使实现了肿瘤消退或完全缓解，疾病通常也会复发。近年来越来越多的报告强调了在肿瘤中以及在癌症患者体内系统性发挥作用的潜在免疫抑制机制，这些机制会阻断有效的抗肿瘤免疫反应。它们在很大程度上导致了癌症免疫疗法的失败，在有望取得进展之前需要加以克服。我们在此综述人类癌症中免疫抑制网络的研究现状。
