title: T cell exclusion, immune privilege, and the tumor microenvironment.
abstract: Effective immunotherapy promotes the killing of cancer cells by cytotoxic T cells. This requires not only that cancer-specific T cells be generated, but also that these T cells physically contact cancer cells. The coexistence in some patients of cancer cells and T cells that recognize them indicates that tumors may exhibit the phenomenon of immune privilege, in which immunogenic tissue is protected from immune attack. Here, we review the evidence that stromal cells of the tumor microenvironment mediate this restriction by excluding T cells from the vicinity of cancer cells. Overcoming this T cell checkpoint may thus enable optimal immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA. joycej@mskcc.org dfearon@cshl.edu.
authors.forename: Johanna A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, NY 11724, USA. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical School, New York, NY 10065, USA. joycej@mskcc.org dfearon@cshl.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Fearon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000628:therapy*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000276:immunology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000276:immunology*