TY - JOUR A2 - Maggi, Enrico AU - Duray, Anaëlle AU - Demoulin, Stéphanie AU - Hubert, Pascale AU - Delvenne, Philippe AU - Saussez, Sven PY - 2010 DA - 2011/03/10 TI - Immune Suppression in Head and Neck Cancers: A Review SP - 701657 VL - 2010 AB - Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are the sixth most common cancer in the world. Despite significant advances in the treatment modalities involving surgery, radiotherapy, and concomitant chemoradiotherapy, the 5-year survival rate remained below 50% for the past 30 years. The worse prognosis of these cancers must certainly be link to the fact that HNSCCs strongly influence the host immune system. We present a critical review of our understanding of the HNSCC escape to the antitumor immune response such as a downregulation of HLA class I and/or components of APM. Antitumor responses of HNSCC patients are compromised in the presence of functional defects or apoptosis of T-cells, both circulating and tumor-infiltrating. Langerhans cells are increased in the first steps of the carcinogenesis but decreased in invasive carcinomas. The accumulation of macrophages in the peritumoral areas seems to play a protumoral role by secreting VEGF and stimulating the neoangiogenesis. SN - 2314-8861 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/701657 DO - 10.1155/2010/701657 JF - Clinical and Developmental Immunology PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -