Introduction

Over the past decades, systems biology approaches have been applied in different areas of life science research including oncology. Researchers now understand the hallmarks of cancer cells such as abnormal cell growth, inflammation, dysregulated metabolic pathways and drug resistance properties at a molecular level. Systems biology approaches have enabled researchers to investigate cancer immunology by identifying cancer related biomarkers on immune cells, and to study the effect of different therapies in tissue cultures and mouse models.

Systems Biology in Cancer Immunotherapy explains the scope of systems biology in understanding the immune response to neoplasms. The book introduces readers to the concepts crucial to cancer immunology before delving into the applied systems biology topics such as the metabolic pathways in cancer cells, the biomolecular roles of signal transduction molecules and immunotherapy. A brief conclusion at the end also provides some information from a clinical and commercial perspective on cancer immunotherapy.

This volume is intended as an introductory reference for life science and medical students, researchers and academics interested in the application of systems biology to the immune system in cancer patients.