The Open Pathology Journal

2010, 4 : 45-59
Published online 2010 April 14. DOI: 0.2174/1874375701004010045
Publisher ID: TOPATJ-4-45

The Immune Response in Paediatric Cancer

Daniel A. Morgenstern and John Anderson
Molecular Haematology and Cancer Biology Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK;

ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen something of a resurgence of interest in the role of the immune system in the initiation, development, control and treatment of human cancers. Growing evidence indicates a complex set of interactions between developing tumours and the host immune system. In this review, we examine the major types of tumour-infiltrating immune cells and discuss their significance in terms of both pro- and anti-tumour effects. In the second part of the review, we consider a number of the potential immune escape mechanisms which may be employed by tumours, including intrinsic signalling pathways such as STAT3 and NF-κB; cytokines such as TGF-β metabolic pathways including indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and loss of expression or shedding of immune mediators such as MHC class I and NKG2D. Although much of the literature in this field relates to adult malignancies, we focus in this review on paediatric cancers and discuss potential differences in the role of the immune system in these malignancies, compared to adult-type cancers.

Keywords:

Cancer, angiogenesis, intrinsic signalling.