Dendritic cells in cancer vaccines.
Dendritic cells (DC) are recognized as the most potent antigen-presenting cells with the ability to stimulate naive resting T cells and to initiate primary immune responses. Encouraging results in vaccination studies in animal models and the development of protocols to generate sufficient numbers of human DC for clinical application have led to attempts to verify the feasibility and efficacy of this approach in patients in the context of Phase I/II vaccination trials. This review aims to present a concise overview of the current knowledge in DC development and biology and describes the recent data of the first published DC-based vaccination studies. These preliminary trials indicate that immunotherapies utilizing DC-presenting tumor-associated antigens can safely be administered to patients with cancer and induce significant immunologic and clinical responses.
Brossart
P
P
Department of Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Strasse-10, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany. peter.brossart@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Wirths
S
S
Brugger
W
W
Kanz
L
L
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D018925:Chemokines