April 1, 2003 Journal article Open Access

Immunotherapy: Past, present and future

Waldmann, Thomas A.

Harnessing the immune system to treat chronic infectious diseases or cancer is a major goal of immunotherapy. Among others, impediments to this aim include host failure to identify tumor antigens, tolerance to self and negative immunoregulatory mechanisms. But with recent progress, active and passive immunotherapy are proving themselves as effective therapeutic strategies.