The progressive growth of a malignant tumor is accompanied by a decline in the immune response, through mechanisms that have, until recently, been poorly understood. The new era of biological therapies, including cytokines, adoptive transfer of TIL cells, gene therapy and others, brought forth the need to understand the impact of the tumor on the immune system. Moreover, the inability to achieve in humans the unequivocal success of immunotherapy in murine models suggests the possibility that cancer can impair the development of a therapeutic immune response.
Scientific and technological...