Genetic Immunotherapy Approaches

The idea of exploiting the immune system to treat tumors ( cancer immunotherapy ) is at least a century old. Immunotherapy is generally classified into two functional approaches: Passive immunotherapy administers preformed elements of the immune system (tumor-reactive antibodies, antitumor cytokines, or tumoricidal effector cells) to patients with the intent that these agents will directly attack the cancer cells. Active immunotherapy (including tumor vaccines and immunostimulatory cytokines) is intended to stimulate the patients’ immune system to generate effective antitumor immunity. Both passive and active immunotherapies are integral parts of modern medical practice for problems as diverse as the treatment of snakebites and the prevention of infectious diseases. Yet, for cancer, the role of the immune system and immunotherapy has been a topic of spirited debate for the last 50 years (1) . Major points of contention have been whether tumor cells are immunogenic in their host of origin and whether the immune system is capable of controlling or eradicating malignant cells. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.