300015 SE Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy (2015S)

Lectures will start with the general overview, basic concepts in immunology - innate immunity; adaptive immunity; cells of the immune system; antigen presentation and recognition; and effector mechanisms of immune system. The second part of lectures will focus on the hallmarks of cancer, tumor microenvironment; modulatory and regulatory mechanisms within the tumor; defects in antigen presentation machinery of cancer cells; and the innate and adaptive immune responses against cancer. The third part of the lectures will focus mostly on the tumor-associated antigen-specific immune responses; definition and characteristics of tumor-associated antigens; humoral and cellular immune responses against cancer cells; role of effector, helper, cytotoxic and regulatory cells in anti-tumor immune responses. The last part of lectures will discuss the current status of cancer immunotherapy- the blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy; vaccines against cancer; and strategies how to increase the efficacy of immune responses against cancer cells. Summary and discussion will close lectures.