Immuno-oncology in simple term is the study and development of treatments that take advantage of the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

The role of the immune system in shaping cancer development and patient prognosis has recently become an area of intense focus in Cancer Management and in  Clinical Research. Harnessing the adaptive arm of the immune system for tumor eradication has shown great promise in a variety of tumor types.

However, differences between tissues necessitate a greater understanding of the adaptive immune programmes that are active within each tumor type.

Further complicating these matters is the heterogenous expression of hormone receptors and growth factors in different tumors which lead to disparate-patient  specific immune responses.

But, inspite of this Non Conformity in adaptive immune behavior of tumors. Encouraging clinical results have been observed that suggest a role for immune   therapeutic approaches in various solid cancers.

Some tumors are densely infiltrated with tumor infiltrating immune lymphocytes while in others only subtle infiltrates are noted.

These TIL’s are naturally occurring mononuclear cells infiltrating the solid tumor microenvironment.

They are the front line soldiers of the adaptive immune system and are recruited into the tumor site to fight against cancer cells.

Recent advances in understanding TIL’s has paved the way for TIL therapy regimens, which have gained importance as safe and personalized immunotherapies, specifically in cancers of the breast, lung, colon and in malignant melanoma.

Dr. Roberto Salgado is an Anatomic pathologist based at Antwerp, Belgium. He is an Honorary Research Associate in the Research division at the Peter Mac Callum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia. Currently he is the Co-chair of the “International Immuno Oncology Biomarker’s Working Group” along with Dr. Sherene Loi from Peter MacCallum, Melbourne and Dr. Carsen Denkert from the University of Marburg, Germany. “The International Immuno Oncology Working Group” aims to develop guidelines and tools to help pathologists implement TIL scoring in daily practice.

Dr. Salgado is also into Targeted therapy based on Immune Oncology using TIL’s as Biomarkers for selection of patients for treatment with immune check point  inhibitors. His strategic views on Oncology have been published in Major International Journals such as Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery and Lancet Oncology.

He is a member of the WHO Editorial Board of the WHO Classification of Breast T’s 5th edition.