Tumor specific CD8+ T cells in patients with lung cancer and healthy individuals

Lung cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death in the developed world, presents with a poor 5-year survival, despite improvements in conventional treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Lung cancer directed immunotherapy promises to harness the body's ability to mount antitumor immune responses and destroy cancer cells. Improving our understanding of tumor biology and the host immune response promises to have a positive impact on the development of novel therapeutic strategies for this disease. This article will present our current understanding on immunotherapy from the perspective of the CD8(+) cytolytic T cell response in lung cancer and how elucidation of the mechanisms that affect T-cell memory lineage commitment could improve the outcome of current immunotherapeutic attempts.