Main description:

Leading investigators and clinicians detail the different mechanisms used by tumors to escape and impair the immune system and then spell out possible clinical strategies to prevent or reverse tumor-induced immune dysfunction. The authors review the mechanisms of immune dysfunction and evasion mechanisms in histologically diverse human tumors, focusing on tumor-induced molecular defects in T cells and antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells and tumors), that may serve as biomarkers for patient prognosis. They discuss the means by which these immune functions may be protected or restored in order to more effectively support the process of tumor rejection in situ. Cutting-edge techniques are outlined with the capacity to monitor the strength and quality of patients' immune responses using immunocytometry, MHC-peptide tetramers combined with apoptosis assay, ELISPOT assay, and detection of MHC-TAA peptide complexes on tumor cells.

Contents:

Part I. Basic Mechanisms of Immune Evasion

HLA Class I Antigen-Processing Machinery and HLA Class I Antigen-Derived Peptide-Complex Defects in Tumor-Cell Escape
Michael Campoli, Chien-Chung Chang, Xin-Hui Wang, and Soldano Ferrone

Immune Defects in T Cells From Cancer Patients: Parallels in Infectious Diseases
Augusto C. Ochoa, Paulo C. Rodriguez, Jovanny Zabaleta, Pelayo Correa, and Arnold H. Zea

Malfunction of the Dendritic Cell System in Cancer
Zoya R. Yurkovetsky, Irina L. Tourkova, Levent Balkir, Lori Perez, Galina V. Shurin, Gurkamal S. Chatta, and Michael R. Shurin

CD4+ T-Cell-Mediated Immunity to Cancer
Tomohide Tatsumi, Amy Wesa, James H. Finke, Ronald M. Bukowski, and Walter J. Storkus

Immunological Ignorance in Cancer
Koji Tamada and Lieping Chen

The Role of Receptor-Mediated Apoptosis in T-Cell Dysfunction
Hannah Rabinowich and Brian R. Gastman

Alterations in T-Cell Signaling Pathways and Increased Sensitivity to Apoptosis
Ithaar H. Derweesh, Luis Molto, Charles Tannenbaum, Patricia Rayman, Christina Moon, Cynthia Combs, Thomas Olencki, Paul Elson, Ronald M. Bukowski, and James H. Finke

The Role of Tumor Gangliosides in the Immune Dysfunction of Cancer
Stephan Ladisch

Interleukin-10-Induced Immune Suppression in Cancer
Arvin S. Yang and Edmund C. Lattime

Accentuating Tumor Immunity Through Costimulation: A Detailed Analysis of OX40 Engagement and CTLA-4 Blockade
Andrew D. Weinberg, Dean E. Evans, and Arthur A. Hurwitz

Optimizing T-Cell Adoptive Immunotherapy to Overcome Tumor Evasion
Peter A. Cohen, Gregory E. Plautz, James H. Finke, and Suyu Shu

Tumor Resistance to Apoptosis: Mechanisms of Evasion and Implications for Radiation and Chemotherapeutic Strategies
Robert G. Uzzo, Paul Cairns, Nickolai Dulin, Eric M. Horwitz, Alan Pollack, and Vladimir Kolenko

Part II. Clinical Relevance of Immune Evasion

The Development and Reversal of T-Cell Tolerance in Cancer Patients Receiving Peptide-Based Vaccines
Ena Wang and Francesco M. Marincola

Altered Signaling in T Lymphocytes of Patients With Cancer: A Biomarker of Prognosis?
Theresa L. Whiteside

Allogeneic Hematopoietic Blood-Cell Transplantation as Immunotherapy for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Richard W. Childs and Cristian A. Carvallo

Immune Defects in Patients Suffering From Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Thomas Zander, Daniel Re, Michael von Bergwelt-Baildon, Jurgen Wolf, and Joachim L. Schultze

Immune Dysfunction in Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Arjan Diepstra, Ewerton M. Maggio, Anke van den Berg, and Sibrand Poppema

Lung Cancer and Immune Dysfunction
Steven M. Dubinett, Sherven Sharma, Min Huang, Jenny T. Mao, and Raj K. Batra

Primary Malignant Brain Tumors: Immune Defects and Immune Evasion
Lucinda H. Elliott, Lorri A. Morford, William H. Brooks, and Thomas L. Roszmam

Index