immune surveillance

noun

variants or immunosurveillance

ˌi-myə-nō-sər-ˈvā-lən(t)s 

i-ˌmyü-nō-,

 also  -ˈvāl-yən(t)s,

 or  -ˈvā-ən(t)s

or less commonly immunological surveillance

: the monitoring process by which cells of the immune system (such as natural killer cells, cytotoxic T cells, or macrophages) detect and destroy premalignant or malignant cells in the body

Scientists believe the immune system culls cells whose genetic machinery has gone haywire; errant cells that escape immune surveillance can become self-replicating monsters.

—David Stipp

According to [Douglas] Hanahan and [Robert A.] Weinberg, one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer is the ability to escape immunosurveillance and an enabling characteristic for the acquisition of these capabilities is the inflammation propagated by the tumor.

—Ioannis L. Aivaliotis et al.

broadly : any monitoring process of the immune system that detects and destroys foreign substances, cells, or tissues

Once their bodies were no longer exposed regularly to the [HIV] virus, however, immune surveillance stopped, allowing latent pockets of the virus, which previously had not caused a full-blown infection, to multiply explosively.

—Thomas H. Maugh

Examples of immune surveillance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The absence of lymph nodes in these ancient species might suggest that evolution found… other ways… to build efficient immune surveillance networks. —Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025

Overweight and obese participants also had significantly higher numbers of non-classical monocytes (NCM), a subclass of monocytes that act as immune surveillance cells, and elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines. —New Atlas, 25 Feb. 2025

But cancer cells can stop expressing these antigens, slipping past immune surveillance. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

immune surveillance

noun

variants or immunosurveillance

ˌim-yə-nō-sər-ˈvā-lən(t)s 

im-ˌyü-nō-,

 also  -ˈvāl-yən(t)s,

 or  -ˈvā-ən(t)s

also immunological surveillance

: the monitoring process by which cells of the immune sytstem (as natural killer cells, cytotoxic T cells, or macrophages) detect and destroy premalignant or malignant cells in the body

In transplant recipients, the increased incidence of HPV-related malignancies suggests the greater oncogenic potential of the virus in the setting of impaired immune surveillance.

—Brittany N. Stiebing et al.

According to [Douglas] Hanahan and [Robert A.] Weinberg, one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer is the ability to escape immunosurveillance and an enabling characteristic for the acquisition of these capabilities is the inflammation propagated by the tumor.

—Ioannis L. Aivaliotis et al.

broadly : any monitoring process of the immune system that detects and destroys foreign substances, cells, or tissues

One way in which an infectious agent can evade immune surveillance is by altering its antigens; this is particularly important for extracellular pathogens, against which the principal defense is the production of antibody against their surface structures.

—C. A. Janeway Jr. et al.