Sarcoma Immunotherapy: Past Approaches and Future Directions

Figure 2

Immunoediting. The 3 phases of immunoediting include elimination, equilibrium and escape. (a) Elimination. Cancer cells are transformed (red) but are actively destroyed by the cells of the immune system. (b) Equilibrium. Cancer cells continue to transform (red and teal). Immune system cannot completely remove the transformed cells but controls their growth and there is a dynamic equilibrium that keeps the tumor in check. (c) Escape. Cancer cells continue to grow and transform (red, teal, and pink). These cells now grow unchecked and exhibit immunosuppressive mechanisms (CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg) which ultimately lead to progressively growing tumors. Abbreviations: CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg, 𝛾𝛿 and NKT cells are all types of T cells and NK cells are natural killer cells. Reference: figure modified from [21].