Tumor express antigens that are recognized as foreign by the immune system of the tumor-bearing host. Immune responses normally fail to prevent the growth of tumors. The immune system can be activated by an external stimuli to effectively kill tumor cells and eradicate tumors. Immune responses frequently fail to prevent the growth of tumor. Tumor cells are derived from host cells, the rapid growth and spread of tumors and specialized mechanisms for evading host immune responses
Tumor Antigen
Tumor antigens are determinants on tumor cells,which can be recognized by the components of the immune system. Classification:
1. Tumor-specific antigen
2. Tumor-associated antigen
Tumor-specific antigen Antigen that are expressed on tumor cells but not on normal cells were called tumor- specific antigens; some of these antigens are unique to individual tumors, whereas others are shared among tumors of the same type.
Tumor-associated antigen
Tumor antigens that are also expressed on normal cells were called tumor-associated antigens; in most cases, these antigens are normal cellular constituents whose expression is unusual in tumors.
Immunity against Tumor
The T cell is the primary cell responsible for direct recognition and killing of …show more content…
The greatest problem encountered after transplantation of cells and tissue from a genetically different donor is that the immune system of the recipient recognizes the transplant as foreign and will try to get rid of it in essentially the same way as the immune system deals with invading organisms .The result is a host-virus-graft (HVG) response, which may lead to rejection of transplant. Similarly,T lymphocyres transferred along with the stem cells in a donor bone marrow graft can recognize host cells as foreign and will initiate a graft-versus-host (GVH) response, which may cause serious and often fatal GVH