umor immune surveillance is the action of the immune system identifying cancerous and/or precancerous cells and
eliminating them before they are able to cause harm to the body. Tumors are still able to develop even wit
...
umor immune surveillance is the action of the immune system identifying cancerous and/or precancerous cells and
eliminating them before they are able to cause harm to the body. Tumors are still able to develop even with a functioning
immune system, so the tumor immunoediting concept comes into play to determine the immune systems role in tumor
development. This concept is divided into 3 different phases; designated elimination, equilibrium, and escape. Elimination
occurs when the immune system detects and gets rid of tumor cells that have developed. When there is a partial tumor
elimination, there is a temporary state of equilibrium that can develop between the immune system and the developing
tumor. Tumor cells at this phase will either remain dormant or will continue to evolve. However, if the immune response fails
to completely remove the tumor and the cells are able to resist the antitumor response, it leads to the escape phase. During
this phase, the immune system is no longer able to contain tumor growth and the result is s progressively growing tumor.
Researchers studied spontaneous tumor development in immunodeficient mice by testing the role of the immune system in
controlling tumor development. Specific components of the mouse immune system were removed and they were monitored
for the development of tumors. They found that many immune effector cells and pathways are important for suppressing the
development of tumors. Their results suggested that there were innate and adaptive parts of the immune system involved in
the prevention of tumors. Clinical observations have shown evidence supporting the idea of tumor immune surveillance in
humans. The increased risk of tumor development in immunosuppressed patients, instances of spontaneous tumor
regression, and the appearance of tumorreactive T cells and B cells in relation to improved prognosis all point to a role for
the immune system in suppressing tumor grow
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