Immunologic interpretation of cancer biology: Impact on clinical outcome

The biology of tumors cannot be understood by simply studying the traits of the neoplastic cells in isolation. Instead, the contributions of the tumor microenvironment to tumor genesis must be considered. The complexity of the interaction between not transformed host cells with cancer cells and the molecular pathways involved in such interaction could be recently appreciated by high-throughput tools capable of providing a global view of biological processes. Based on this approach numerous studies have defined a new portrait of cancer, describing a linkage between the immune infiltrate, prognosis and response to therapy. Here, we provide an overview of the current status of the field describing the immune cells involved in this phenomenon. Molecular events and biomarkers associated with the favorable clinic outcome will be described, analyzing also commonalities and discrepancies among studies.