title: Reflections on the Histopathology of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Melanoma and the Host Immune Response.
abstract: In the past five decades, the role for lymphocytes in host immune response to tumors has been shown, at least in some patients, to be a critical component in disease prognosis. Also, the heterogeneity of lymphocytes has been documented, including the existence of regulatory T cells that suppress the immune response. As the functions of lymphocytes have become better defined in terms of antitumor immunity, specific targets on lymphocytes have been uncovered. The appreciation of the role of immune checkpoints has also led to therapeutic approaches that illustrate the effectiveness of blocking negative regulators of the antitumor immune response. In this Masters of Immunology article, we trace the evolution of our understanding of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and discuss their role in melanoma prognosis from the very basic observation of their existence to the latest manipulation of their functions with the result of improvement of the host response against the tumor.
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. mmihm@partners.org James.Mule@moffitt.org.
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mihm
authors.affiliation: Translational Science, Melanoma Research and Treatment, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida. mmihm@partners.org James.Mule@moffitt.org.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mulé
mesh_terms: D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D056747:Immunomodulation; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D018925:Chemokines