pubmed:abstractText |
Most children with cancer can be cured with combination regimens of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or all. However, standard therapies are toxic to normal tissues, cancer cells commonly develop resistance to chemotherapy, and relapsed malignancy is a leading cause of mortality in pediatrics. Elucidation of the principles of the normal immune response and tumor biology, coupled with technological developments, have led to important advances in the field of cancer immunotherapy. This review summarizes the biologic basis of cancer immunotherapy and highlights recent examples of progress in the application of novel humoral and cellular immunotherapies to children and adolescents with malignancy.
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