Cancer in the immunosuppressed patient

Abstract

During the 1960s, as oncology research was rapidly expanding, MacFarlane Burnett's idea that cancer resulted from a failure of tumor surveillance by the aging immune system was broadly acknowledged. The development of cancer genetics focused the field on mutational causes of tumorigenesis. However, a new appreciation for the role that a well-functioning immune system plays in protecting against virally induced tumors was brought to light in the 1980s with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. The phenomenon of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated cancer epidemic within defined populations, particularly due to the recent dramatic responses to treatment of the underlying immunodeficiency, has given insight into other etiologic factors for a variety of tumors. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.