Tumor Immune Responses

Sry Suryani W
 Immune System
Physiologic function : defense against
microbes infections.
Vaccination.
Defense against microbes is mediated by :
Innate immunity ( natural or native immunity--
early reactions)
Adaptive immunity ( late response)
 Principals component of innate immunity :
Physical and chemical barriers ( epithelial barriers)
Phagocytic cells ( neutrophils and macrophages)
NK cells
Cytokines ( complement)
Adaptive immunity ( spesific immunity)
Lymphocytes and their products :
B lymphocytes---- antibodies ( humoral immunity)
T lymphocytes----- Effector T cells ( cellular immunity)
Active immunity : immunity induced by
exposure to a foreign antigen is called active
immunity.
Naive : individuals and lymphocytes that have
not encountered a particular antigen.
Passive immunity
 Cellular components of the adaptive immune
system
Lymphocytes
B lymphocytes : the only cells that capable producing
antibodies.
T lymphocyes : recognize the antigens of intracellular microbes
and destroy, do not produce antibody molecules. They recognize
only peptide antigen attached to host proteins that are encoded
by genes in the major histocompatibility complex ( MHC),
expressed on the surfaces of other cells.
Helper T cells
Cytolytic ( cytotoxic T Lymphocytes / CTLs)
Regulatory T cells ( function mainly to inhibit immune
response)
NK cells --- involved in innate immunity.
 Immunity to Tumors
Concept of immune surveillance
Physiologic function of the immune system is to
recognize and destroy clones of transformed cells
before they grow into tumors and to kill tumors
after they are formed.
 Immunoediting can bring about three
outcomes:
elimination of the cancer.
cancer equilibrium, in which there is immune
selection of less immunogenic tumors during an
antitumor immune response.
tumor escape, the growth of tumor variants that
resist immune destruction.
 General features of tumor immunity
Tumors express antigen that are recognized as
foreign by the immune system of the tumor-
bearing host.
Immune responses frequently fail to prevent
the growth of tumors.
The immune system can be activated by
external stimuli to effectively kill tumor cells
and eradicate tumors.
 Tumor Antigens
Tumor specific antigens : antigens that are expressed
on tumor cells but not on normal cells.
Tumor-associated antigens : tumor antigens that are
also expressed on normal cells.
Some tumor antigens are produced :
By oncogenic mutants of normal cellular genes.
Class I antigen processing pathway
Class II antigen processing pathways ( APCs)
By mutated genes whose products are not related to the
transformed phenotype and have no known function.
Tumor specific transplantation antigens. (TSTAs)
 Immune responses to tumors
T lymphocytes.
The principal mechanism of tumor immunity is
killing of tumor cells by CD8 CTLs.
Antibodies
By activating complement or by antibody-
dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity, in which Fc
receptor bearing macrophages or NK cells mediate
the killing.
 NK Cells.
Kill many types of tumor cells,especially cells that
have reduced class I MHC expression and can
escape killing by CTLs.
Macrophages
 Evasion of immune responses by tumors

Process of evasion,called tumor escape,

maybe a result of several mechanisms.
Down regulation of expression of MHC class I on
tumor cells, so that they cannot be recognized by
CTLs.
Tumor lose expression of antigens that elicit
immune responses.
Tumors fail to induce CTLs because most tumor
cells do not express costimulators or Class II MHC
molecules.
 The products of tumor cells may suppress anti
tumor immune responses.
Tumor antigens may induce specific immunologic
tolerance.