Pathogen-associated molecular pattern in cancer immunotherapy.

Observations from different research frontiers--epidemiological data, case studies on spontaneous regressions from cancer, clinical studies, tumor immunology--indicate that exposure by vaccination or infection to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) can have beneficial effects on neoplastic diseases, both prophylactically and therapeutically. These effects have not yet been harnessed to their full extent for the prophylaxis and therapy of cancer. Here, we summarize clinical, epidemiological, and experimental data and discuss the role of PAMP in cancer therapy.