Journal of Cancer Research and Immuno-Oncology
Open Access

Immunotherapy for Cancer and Public Health

Andishe Sarah^{* *}Correspondence: Andishe Sarah, Department of Paediatric Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, USA, Email:

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Description

There is no question about the effectiveness of cancer immune surveillance, and the successful exploitation of the immune response to cancer has heralded a new era in the fight against the disease. In addition to the six hallmarks of cancer, immunoevasion has recently come to the attention of cancer biologists. In addition to the inherent link between the immune system and the development of cancer, it is also known that the majority of known environmental risk factors disrupt immune surveillance systems. There is some evidence that genetic variants governing immunity may also affect cancer risk, but this is yet preliminary. Molecular cross talk connecting "genomic" and "immune" pathways for surveillance have been identified. It suggests that common cancer risk factors may have an impact via immunological mechanisms. As a supplement to ongoing efforts to develop vaccines for cancer immunoprevention, we present an updated assessment of the evidence for cancer immune surveillance, cancer risk factors interfering with it, and therapies to boost cancer immune surveillance. Although observational studies have shown strong evidence in favour of cancer immunoprevention through straightforward lifestyle changes, clinical trials are still urgently required to prove the efficacy of this strategy for the improvement of public health.

Contribution of Immune cells to fight against cancer

There has been substantial research on the role of the immune system in the prevention of cancer and the treatment of clinical cancer. Clinical observations, epidemiological findings, and animal research all provide support for cancer immune surveillance.

It was anticipated that immunodeficient (athymic nude) animals would have an increase in both spontaneous tumour growth and tumour development as compared to immunocompetent mice. However, Stutman's experiments did not produce evidence to support these hypotheses. Stutman's study came to the accurate conclusion that their findings refuted the idea that immunologic surveillance depends on the thymus. Although the nude mouse model was effective for simulating T-cell deficiency, it was later shown that these animals still possessed functional Natural Killer (NK) cells and weren't entirely immune deficient. These findings led to the cancer immune surveillance theory being put on hold for a while until a new set of trials in the 1990s offered solid support. It is now well established that the immune system plays a crucial part in preventing the growth of both virally and non-virally caused cancers.

Epidemiologic investigations

Strong evidence for the immune system's role in preventing and controlling the development of cancer has been presented by epidemiologic research. The first finding was that cancer incidence rates are higher in those whose immune systems are compromised. Some primary immunodeficiencies enhance the risk of developing cancer. An increased risk of cancer is associated with acquired immunodeficiencies or immunosuppression, as is the case in organ transplant recipients and HIV infection. Although later, larger studies have found an elevated risk for cancers other than those caused by infections, previous research only found an increased risk for those. It has been found that certain immunosuppressed organ transplant recipients experience the development of donor-derived tumours, which may indicate that in the allegedly tumor-free donors, the cancer cells were suppressed, in a dormant form, by a healthy immune system. These observations serve as illustrations for the elimination stage of contemporary immunoediting.

The equilibrium phase also includes supporting data. Numerous studies on individuals who passed away from illnesses other than cancer have convincingly shown a high prevalence of concealed malignancies in otherwise healthy individuals. Here are a few examples: 22 out of 110 consecutive autopsies of women between the ages of 20 and 54 had signs of breast cancer (only 1 had a history of cancer). Of these, 45% exhibited bilateral and 41% had multifocal signs of malignancy. Another study found that 80% of women with a clinical diagnosis of breast cancer who passed away also had cancer in their opposite breast.

Health observations

The phenomenal success of cancer immunotherapy, which has changed cancer treatment, serves as the strongest support for cancer immune surveillance. In addition to cancer immunotherapy becoming a common treatment option, the US Food and Drug Administration has licenced more than a dozen medications or vaccines for the purpose of preventing cancer. Cancer immunoediting is now well established as a reality, starting with cancer immune surveillance and eradication and ending with escape. As a result, one of the new characteristics of cancer is the ability to evade immune regulation (immunoevasion).