ABSTRACT
The interactions of tumor, host immunity and infection are the subject of this chapter. The complex relationship between cancer and host immunity is multifactorial (Table 59.1). The current understanding of the pathogenesis of cancer suggests that tumor development and progression is frequently the result of tumor “escape” from the control of the immune system. This immune control is mediated by both cellular and molecular pathways ( 1 , 2 ). It is, therefore, not surprising that patients who are chronically immunosuppressed by means of primary immunosuppressive disease, notably by HIV infection, or by chronic iatrogenic immune suppression, especially transplant recipients, are particularly prone to tumor development.
