Understanding the immunology of different cancers has led to great advances in developing cancer immunotherapies which are successfully used in generating effective anti-tumour immune responses. Head and neck cancers are no exception and various immunotherapies are now under study for the treatment of this diverse group of diseases. The articles in in this eBook provide a range of topics that highlight some of the latest advances in head and neck cancer immunology and immunotherapy. The authors of these articles provide their unique insight and expertise and suggest future directions for translational clinical research.

Part 1: Intratumoral Signatures Associated With Immune Responsiveness

Get a quick, expert overview of the latest clinical information and guidelines for cancer checkpoint inhibitors and their implications for specific types of cancers. This practical title by Drs. Fumito Ito and Marc Ernstoff synthesizes the most up-to-date research and clinical guidance available on immune checkpoint inhibitors and presents this information in a compact, easy-to-digest resource. It's an ideal concise reference for trainee and practicing medical oncologists, as well as those in research. - Discusses the current understanding of how to best harness the immune system against different types of cancer at various stages. - Helps you translate current research and literature into practical information for daily practice. - Presents information logically organized by disease site. - Covers tumor immunology and biology; toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors; and future outlooks. - Consolidates today's available information on this timely topic into one convenient resource.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as an important innovative treatment for various primary and metastatic cancers. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the physical/technological, biological, and clinical aspects of SBRT. It will serve as a detailed resource for this rapidly developing treatment modality. The organ sites covered include lung, liver, spine, pancreas, prostate, adrenal, head and neck, and female reproductive tract. Retrospective studies and prospective clinical trials on SBRT for various organ sites from around the world are examined, and toxicities and normal tissue constraints are discussed. This book features unique insights from world-renowned experts in SBRT from North America, Asia, and Europe. It will be necessary reading for radiation oncologists, radiation oncology residents and fellows, medical physicists, medical physics residents, medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, and cancer scientists.

This volume explores the various methods used to study tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in pathological situations. Pre-clinical models are also discussed in detail to show how TLS structure, development, and maintenance can be targeted and studied in vivo. The chapters in this book cover topics such as humans and mice; strategies to quantify TLS in order to use it in stained tissue sections; classifying a gene signature form fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues; and development of murine inflammatory models to help look at TLS in the context of infection or malignancy. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and thorough, Tertiary Lymphoid Structures: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource that increases the reader’s knowledge on immune functions and how they will pave the way to future therapeutic applications.

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 is limited, possibly because tumors skew the immune system by means of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, inflammatory type 2 T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), all of which prevent the generation of effector cells. To improve the clinical efficacy of cancer vaccines in patients with metastatic disease, we need to design novel and improved strategies that can boost adaptive immunity to cancer, help overcome Tregs and allow the breakdown of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

Despite recent advances in adjuvant therapies of cancer, the regi mens of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy treatment which are presently available fail to cure the majority of cancer patients. Pre operative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy represents a new approach in drug scheduling, based on sound theoretical, pharmacokinetic, and experimental principles. The preoperative timing of chemotherapy before definitive sur gery is not a minor change in the therapy of cancer. To be successful, large numbers of practitioners and their patients must participate. Substantial alterations of many aspects of the present management of cancer will have to follow. Therefore, before such therapy can be fully and routinely implemented, results of the novel treatment and its rationale have to be carefully evaluated. In preoperative treatment, other features will likely gain impor tance. For the first time, clinicians have a chance to follow the in vivo response of the tumor exposed to preoperative chemotherapy. The subsequent histological assessment of the tumor sample may likely become an important prognostic guide, permitting more re fined individual approaches to the planning of postoperative adju vant treatment. The value of such a treatment strategy can already be appreciated in the clinical setting, as seen from the therapy of osteosarcoma. Furthermore, preoperative chemotherapy might render previously inoperable tumors operable and hence resectable with a curative intention. The preoperative reduction of tumor bulk may also effectively decrease the need for more radical operations, permitting a more uniform adoption of conservative surgery.