The term "autoimmunity" has been used to categorize a number of different diseases of unknown etiology. The term as applied to many of these diseases would probably be interpreted best as "autoreactivity," as the clinical phenotypes are often characterized by an inflammatory-like accumulation of activated cells of the immune system at sites of obvious damage of normal cells and/or tissue. The reasons as to why an immune system should attack itself are far from clear, although the association with specific infectious diseases in genetically susceptible people remains perhaps our best lead. The...

This volume reviews advances in the field of human tumor immunology, particularly in relation to the potential for immune intervention in preventing or treating tumors. The editors and contributors, all leading workers in the field, survey advances in the understanding of the relationship between the cancer cell and the immune response. Chapters review in depth the function of immune surveillance and mechanisms of tumor immunity, the role of T lymphocytes and oncogenes in the immune response to cancer, and the potential for immunotherapy of cancer. New areas of tumor immunology are presented,...