Immunologic Study of Tumors in Mouse Models

Abstract

Mouse tumor models have played a central role in the history of cancer immunology and more broadly in immunology. Studies of transplantable tumors opened the field of transplantation immunology. Serologic analyses of antibodies against tumors led to the discovery of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens that determine transplantation immunity as well as other alloantigens and lymphocyte subset markers, including the well‐known CD4+ and CD8+ subsets of T cells. In the present era, genetically manipulated mice are crucial tools to (1) understand the role of various components and cells of the immune system in promoting, accelerating, or rejecting tumors; (2) investigate immunity against cancers at different stages of tumor progression; and (3) develop and test new prevention and therapeutic strategies against cancer.