For some time immunotherapy has been heralded as a breakthrough approach for cancer treatment. Although the potential of this strategy remains solid, the approach needs considerable refinement. Whilst some programmes are looking to increase the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the stimulation of antitumor immunity, others are trying to find the most appropriate clinical setting that will reveal the role of the immune system in combating cancer. Among the most important discoveries have been tumor-specific antigens.

This thematic volume highlights some key...

The interplay between tumors and their immunologic microenvironment is complex, difficult to decipher, but its understanding is of seminal importance for the development of novel prognostic markers and therapeutic strategies. The present review discusses tumor-immune interactions in several human cancers that illustrate various aspects of this complexity and proposes an integrated scheme of the impact of local immune reactions on clinical outcome. Current active immunotherapy trials have shown durable tumor regressions in a fraction of patients. However, clinical efficacy of current vaccines...