Cancer Immunotherapy: Will Expanding Knowledge Lead to Success in Pediatric Oncology?

The past 25 years have seen an increase in our understanding of immunology and further expansion in the clinical use of immunotherapeutic modalities. How immunotherapy will be integrated with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery remains to be established. Although there have been successes in the field of immunotherapy, they have been inconsistent, and it is hoped that increased understanding of the basic principles of immunology will improve the consistency of beneficial effects. In this article, we briefly provide a general overview of our current understanding of the immune system, with a focus on concepts in tumor immunology, followed by a discussion of how these concepts are being used in the clinic.