Lecture - Novel immune insights to fight cancer- Prof Erika Jensen-Jarolim

Prof. Erika Jensen-Jarolim, MD, has a full Professor at the Interuniversity Messerli Research Institute of Medical University Vienna,
She is Head of Dept of Comparative Medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and at University Vienna and Head of AllergyCare, Molecular Allergy Diagnosis at the Study Center, Vienna, Austria

Tumor progression results from the balance between the oncogenic signal versus immune reactions in cancer, which are often dominated by tolero-genic signals from tumor-infiltrating T regulatory cells as well as from the tumor cells themselves. This may be the reason why anticancer vaccines did so far not achieve the expected success, despite formulations with immune stimulatory adjuvants, usage of novel vehicles facilitating co-stimulation, or application of tumor antigen mimetics. It may be expected that anticancer vaccines will have a breakthrough since immune checkpoint inhibitors have been introduced lately.

Nevertheless, most of the studies investigating anticancer immunity are focusing on cytotoxic responses which are classically rather associated with Th1 immunity. Less work has been done concentrating on Th2-type immune responses, that we know so well in allergy, in and around cancer tissues.

Whereas allergists aim at achieving immune tolerance and oncologists at its avoidance, Allergo-Oncology combines their knowledge to improve the understanding of allergy mechanisms in cancer.