Dendritic cells (II): Role and therapeutic implications in cancer.
J R Coll Surg Edinb
; 46(3): 159-67, 2001 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11478013
The potential to harness the effectiveness and specificity of the immune system underlies the growing interest in cancer immunotherapy. One such approach uses bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs), phenotypically distinct and very potent antigen-presenting cells, to present tumour-associated antigens (TAAgs) and, thereby, generate tumour-specific immunity. Support for this strategy comes from animal studies that have demonstrated that DCs, when loaded ex vivo with tumour Ags or pulsed with peptides and administered to cancer-bearing hosts, can elicit T cell-mediated cancer destruction. These observations have led to clinical trials designed to investigate the immunological and clinical effects of Ag-pulsed DCs administered as a therapeutic vaccine to patients with cancer. In the design and conduct of such trials, important considerations include Ag selection, methods for introducing TAAgs into MHC class I and II processing pathways, methods for isolating and activating DCs, and route of administration. Although current DC-based vaccination methods are cumbersome and complex, promising preliminary results from clinical trials in patients with malignant lymphoma, melanoma, and prostate cancer suggest that immuno-therapeutic strategies, that take advantage of the unique properties of DCs, may ultimately prove both efficacious and widely applicable treatment in patients with cancer.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Dendritic Cells
/
Neoplasms
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
J R Coll Surg Edinb
Year:
2001
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Reino Unido