ABSTRACT
Despite the limited clinical success thus far, enthusiasm remains high that immune therapy will eventually prove to be an effec tive therapeutic adjunct for many more can cers. This enthusiasm is fueled by two impor tant developments: first, recent progress in the understanding o f cellular immunology has greatly enhanced our understanding o f the mechanisms by which the cellular arm o f the immune system may be manipulated to gener ate immune responses. Second, recent advances in molecular oncology have led to the identifi cation of a substantial number of tumor-specific and tumor-associated molecules which could potentially serve as targets for antitumor im mune responses. For sarcomas, several tumorspecific translocations have been identified which generate novel fusion proteins. Based upon current understanding, it is predicted such tumor-specific proteins could serve as targets for cell-mediated immune responses. In this chap ter, we will review the current state o f knowl edge regarding principles o f tumor immu nology as they relate to the development of cytotoxic T cell mediated immune responses to tumor-specific chromosomal alterations. We will then describe some specific approaches which are being undertaken in an attempt to induce cyto lytic immune responses toward such proteins in cluding strategies for incorporating such endeavors into existing standard therapies for patients with high risk pediatric sarcomas.
