Tumor Escape and Progression under Immune Pressure

Masoud H. Manjili 1 and Nejat Egilmez 2 and Keith L. Knutson 3 and Senthamil R. Selvan 4 and Julie R. Ostberg 5,6 1, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA 2, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 1421, USA 3, Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA 4, Department of Medical Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA 5, Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology, Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, CA 91010, USA 6, Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, CA 91010, USA Received 11 November 2012; Accepted 11 November 2012 This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Opposing Functions of the Immune System in Tumor Inhibition and Tumor Progression Robert Schreiber proposed the term "cancer immunoediting" in order to broadly describe the dual host-protecting and tumor-sculpting actions of the immune system that not only survey for, and eliminate, nascent malignant cells but also shape neoplastic disease through equilibrium and escape mechanisms.