Immunological Studies on Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract

Recent advances in cancer immunology were reviewed in the first half of this paper.
Using syngeneic animals, the biological activities of lymphocyte in attacking cancer cells have precisely been analysed. However, several fundamental problems in human cancer immunology still remain obscure. Especially in the case of human solid tumors including head and neck cancer, there has been scarsely clear proof that human autologous lymphocytes respond and specifically attack cancer cells.
The last half of this report, explained that human autologous T-lymphocyte cytotoxicity to cultured squamous cell cancer cell had been successfully induced in our laboratory, and the possibility of specific immune therapy of the head and neck cancer was discussed. In addition to those, data found in our laboratory about natural killer (NK) activity and regional lymph node metastasis were briefly demonstrated.