title: PSA-based vaccines for the treatment of prostate cancer.
abstract: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among men in the USA. Vaccine strategies represent a novel therapeutic approach. One potential target for a prostate cancer vaccine is prostate-specific antigen, owing to its restricted expression in prostate cancer and normal prostatic epithelial cells. A number of prostate-specific antigen-specific epitopes have been identified that can activate cytotoxic T lymphocytes and, in turn, result in the killing of tumor targets by the peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Strategies employed in clinical trials consist of dendritic cell vaccines, recombinant protein and recombinant DNA vaccines, as well as viral vector delivery of vaccines. New approaches incorporating a combination of a vaccine with traditional treatments for prostate cancer are also being investigated.
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Medical Oncology Branch, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Room 8B09, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. madanr@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Ravi A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gulley
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Arlen
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen