Tumor is one of the major diseases threatening human health in the 21st century. Surgical resection,
radiotherapy,
chemotherapy and targeted
therapy are the main clinical treatments for solid
tumors. However, these methods are unable to eradicate
tumor cells completely, and easily lead to the recurrence and progression of
tumor.
Tumor immunotherapy is a novel treatment that uses human immune system to control and kill
tumor by enhancing or restoring anti-
tumor immunity.
Tumor immunotherapy has shown to produce long-lasting responses in large numbers of patients, and thereby adoptive immunotherapy and
immune checkpoint inhibitors could induce remarkable
antigen-specific immune responses. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are highly heterogeneous lymphocytes existing in
tumor tissues and play a crucial role in host
antigen-specific
tumor immune response. Recent studies show that TILs are closely related to the prognosis of patients during the processes of
tumorigenesis and treatment. Adoptive immunotherapy mediated by TILs has displayed favorable curative effect in many solid
tumors. This paper reviews the recent progress of TILs in solid
tumors.