title: Immunity of human epithelial ovarian carcinoma: the paradigm of immune suppression in cancer.
abstract: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a significant cause of cancer-related mortality in women, and there has been no substantial decrease in the death rates due to EOC in the last three decades. Thus, basic knowledge regarding ovarian tumor cell biology is urgently needed to allow the development of innovative treatments for EOC. Traditionally, EOC has not been considered an immunogenic tumor, but there is evidence of an immune response to EOC in patients. Clinical data demonstrate that an antitumor immune response and immune evasion mechanisms are correlated with a better and lower survival, respectively, providing evidence for the immunoediting hypothesis in EOC. This review focuses on the immune response and immune suppression in EOC. The immunological roles of chemotherapy and surgery in EOC are also described. Finally, we detail pilot data supporting the efficiency of immunotherapy in the treatment of EOC and the emerging concept that immunomodulation aimed at counteracting the immunosuppressive microenvironment must be associated with immunotherapy strategies.
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institut, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal QC H3T 1E2, Canada. vincent.lavoue@gmail.com
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lavoué
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thédrez
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levêque
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foucher
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henno
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jauffret
authors.forename: Marc-Antoine
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Belaud-Rotureau
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Catros
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cabillic
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D016896:Treatment Outcome