Immunotherapy is currently the most rapidly advancing area of clinical oncology, and provides the unprecedented opportunity to effectively treat, and even cure, several previously untreatable malignancies. A growing awareness exists of the fact that the success of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in which the patient's disease can be stabilized well beyond discontinuation of treatment (and occasionally is cured), also relies on the induction of a durable anticancer immune response. Indeed, the local immune infiltrate undergoes dynamic changes that accompany a shift from a pre-existing immune response to a therapy-induced immune response. As a result, the immune contexture, which is determined by the density, composition, functional state and organization of the leukocyte infiltrate of the tumour, can yield information that is relevant to prognosis, prediction of a treatment response and various other pharmacodynamic parameters. Several complementary technologies can be used to explore the immune contexture of tumours, and to derive biomarkers that could enable the adaptation of individual treatment approaches for each patient, as well as monitoring a response to anticancer therapies.

免疫疗法是目前临床肿瘤学中发展最快的领域，为有效治疗甚至治愈一些以前无法治愈的恶性肿瘤提供了前所未有的机会。人们越来越认识到以下事实：化疗和放疗的成功还依赖于持久的抗癌免疫应答，在化学疗法和放射疗法中，患者的疾病可以稳定地超越停止治疗（有时可以治愈）的程度。实际上，局部免疫浸润发生动态变化，伴随着从先前存在的免疫反应向治疗诱导的免疫反应的转变。结果，免疫状态取决于肿瘤的白细胞浸润的密度，组成，功能状态和组织，可以产生与预后，治疗反应预测和各种其他药效学参数有关的信息。可以使用几种补充技术来探索肿瘤的免疫环境，并衍生出生物标记，这些标记可以使每个患者适应不同的治疗方法，并监测对抗癌疗法的反应。