Dr. Sant'Angelo Explains Immunology Basics for Oncologists

Derek Sant'Angelo, PhD, Division Chief, Developmental Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Dept. of Pediatrics, discusses what medical oncologists need to understand about immunology.

Many oncologists are not as familiar with the immunology, says Sant'Angelo. However as immunotherapeutic agents continue to be approved for the treatment of multiple cancer types, understanding immunology is more important than ever before.

The mechanisms of tolerance, the ability of the immune system to understand when it should respond and not respond, is the first thing an oncologist should strive to learn, says Sant'Angelo. To get an immune response against cancer, tolerance must be essentially broken, he explains.