Defining the role of the immune system in cancer treatment: highlights from the Immunochemotherapy Conference.

Overview

The Immunochemotherapy: Correcting Immune Escape in Cancer meeting was co-organized by George Prendergast (Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, PA, USA), Guido Kroemer (Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute, Paris, France) and Laurence Zitvogel (Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute) in partnership with Abcam. It brought together investigators with a diverse background in immunology, oncology and cancer biology, and offered a forum for discussion of a new vision that acknowledges the role of the host immune system not only in cancer development and progression, but also as a major determinant of response to treatment. An important implication of this vision is that synergy between conventional cytocidal modalities and immune response modifiers is not only possible, but holds the promise to revolutionize cancer treatment. The emerging evidence that was presented in support of this new concept will be summarized in this article.