title: Gene and immune therapy for renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: Conventional therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma is associated with a poor response rate and few patients are long-term survivors. The occurrence of spontaneous regression and the prolonged latency period between primary tumor removal and the appearance of metastases in some patients suggest the existence of important host immune responses to autologous tumor cells. With the advent of molecular gene transfer techniques and increased knowledge of the basic pathways of immune activation, the field of cancer immunotherapy has finally begun to develop novel and effective approaches for harnessing the immune system as a therapeutic agent. Current immunotherapy and gene therapy strategies, including methods of cytokine delivery and tumor-cell-based vaccines, are presented.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urologic Oncology, Department of Urology, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA. apantuck@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pantuck
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zisman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belldegrun
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines