Cancer develops as the end product of a multistep process in which cells and/or their microenvironments accumulate alterations, either genetic or epigenetic, which enable uncontrolled growth. During the early steps of this process, altered cells constituting the precursors to cancer are subject to the constraints of natural selection. As such, variations within the population of transformed cells which lead to increased relative fitness are reproductively favored by the various selective pressures of the local microenvironment. Anti-tumor immunity is an important arm of this pre-malignant niche. Consequently, for cancer to develop, at least one of the following four possibilities must occur: 1) the transformed cells progress to cancer without ever becoming immunogenic, 2) the transformed cells are immunogenic, but are able to proliferate faster than they are eliminated, 3) the host immune system becomes compromised or tolerized, or 4) from within the transformed population, new clones evolve adaptations that enable evasion of anti-tumor immunity. This final possibility has been termed “cancer immunoediting” and it includes three distinct stages of cancer-immune interaction: elimination, equilibrium, and escape. As a result of this process, every immunogenic cancer that develops in an immunocompetent host is intrinsically immune-evasive as a result of its past triumphs over anti-tumor immunity. Here, I describe a genetically engineered mouse model developed in order to study this process directly, via in vivo confocal microscopy. This model accurately recapitulates the cancer immunoediting process which occurs as a result of common mutations that drive human carcinomas. Using this model, I identified a previously unknown mechanism of early survival in which transformed cells use an immune-privileged niche as a surrogate for immune evasion. This project also provides a means to further characterize the adaptations that mediate the transitions between the stages of immunoediting. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this model acts as a prototype for discovery of new biomarkers of human immunoediting as well as a screening tool for therapeutic interventions that could form the basis of rational cancer prevention strategies.

Genetically-engineered mouse models for cancer research have become invaluable tools for studying cancer biology and evaluating novel therapeutic approaches. This volume focuses on state-of-the-art methods for generating, analyzing and validating such models for studying aspects of human cancer biology. Additionally, these models are emerging as important pre-clinical systems in which to test cancer prevention and therapeutic strategies in order to select compounds for testing in clinical trials.

This volume examines in detail the role of chronic inflammatory processes in the development of several types of cancer. Leading experts describe the latest results of molecular and cellular research on infection, cancer-related inflammation and tumorigenesis. Further, the clinical significance of these findings in preventing cancer progression and approaches to treating the diseases are discussed. Individual chapters cover cancer of the lung, colon, breast, brain, head and neck, pancreas, prostate, bladder, kidney, liver, cervix and skin as well as gastric cancer, sarcoma, lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma.

The International Society of Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) was founded in 1973 to provide a forum for bioengineers, basic scientists, physiologists, and physicians to discuss new data, original theories, new interpretations of old data, and new technologies for the measurement of oxygen. At each annual meeting all posters are presented orally along with plenary lectures, and all presentations are given in a general session attended by everyone. Each meeting has had a specific focus, ranging from neonatology to physical chemistry to cancer biology. The Society has helped to build many careers, through opportunities to meet leaders in the field, and through awards made to young physicians and scientists. The Society also, through cross fertilization of ideas and scientific comradery, has inspired many breakthroughs in clinical medicine that now benefit mankind. I find myself president of the society after having been a winner of the Melvin Knisely Award for young scientists, in 1991. The 2003 meeting emphasized the role of oxygen and oxygen measurement in tumor growth, metastasis, physiology, and treatment resistance. Additionally, however, completely novel approaches to measurement of tissue oxygen were presented (notably work by Dr. Takahashi) and molecular methods for estimating tissue oxygen were evaluated. Papers discussing other aspects of oxygen measurement and pathophysiology were presented including in vivo ESR spectroscopy (notably including Dr. Swartz and colleagues), exercise physiology, organ transplant outcome (discussed by Dr. Cicco, our 2004 president), circulatory physiology, and cerebral oxygenation (notably including Dr. Chance).

In this book, leading experts in cancer immunotherapy join forces to provide a comprehensive guide that sets out the main principles of oncoimmunology and examines the latest advances and their implications for clinical practice, focusing in particular on drugs with FDA/EMA approvals and breakthrough status. The aim is to deliver a landmark educational tool that will serve as the definitive reference for MD and PhD students while also meeting the needs of established researchers and healthcare professionals. Immunotherapy-based approaches are now inducing long-lasting clinical responses across multiple histological types of neoplasia, in previously difficult-to-treat metastatic cancers. The future challenges for oncologists are to understand and exploit the cellular and molecular components of complex immune networks, to optimize combinatorial regimens, to avoid immune-related side effects, and to plan immunomonitoring studies for biomarker discovery. The editors hope that this book will guide future and established health professionals toward the effective application of cancer immunology and immunotherapy and contribute significantly to further progress in the field.

Immunological Surveillance

Immune Surveillance deals with the issues regarding tumor immunology and surveillance, in which the central theme is all about the life span of the mammalian host that is depleted by the environment with mutagenic agents and solutions. The book is divided into six chapters. It includes discussions on the organization and modulation of cell membrane receptors, as well as the origin and expression of membrane antigens. It also covers the topics on the triggering mechanisms for and effector mechanisms activated by the cellular recognition. These topics analyze and evaluate alternatives for the recognition and destruction mechanisms in the knowledge of cell cooperation and requirements for immune recognition. A chapter provides discourse on a solution for the paradox of thriving tumors based on the demonstrable in vitro host immunity. Another discusses the generation of antibody diversity and the theory of self-tolerance. The last chapter explains the evaluation of the evidence for immune surveillance. This reference will be invaluable to those who specialize in immunology.