title: Human tumor-specific T lymphocytes: does function matter more than number?
abstract: In recent years, several clinical trials have involved the vaccination of cancer patients with tumor-specific antigens that are recognized by T lymphocytes. Anti-vaccine T-cell responses in these patients have been monitored on the assumption that their magnitude would correlate with clinical efficacy. Although analysis of these data show that such a correlation is emerging, detailed analyses of the few patients who benefit clinically from the vaccinations suggest that the function of the anti-vaccine T cells might be more important than their number. Recent studies show that in cancer patients numerous tumor-specific T cells appear to be quiescent in the presence of the tumor. Understanding how an efficient vaccine interferes with this coexistence is one of the current challenges of cancer immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular Pathology, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Hippocrate 74, UCL 7459, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. coulie@gece.ucl.ac.be
authors.forename: Pierre G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Coulie
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Connerotte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines