Melanoma vaccines in development: looking to the future.
There is a body of evidence indicating that melanoma is an antigenic tumour. Since the efficacy of standard therapy in advanced stages of melanoma is rather poor, experimental immunotherapy aims to target this aggressive neoplasm. After the identification of several melanoma antigens, vaccination trials have been initiated in patients with metastatic disease using peptides, dendritic cells and gene therapy approaches including viral vectors or naked DNA. If the problems in inducing a constant and potent T cell response are solved, the stability of melanoma antigens and their presentation will decide whether these treatment approaches will reach significant relevance in daily clinical practice.
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. dummer@derm.unizh.ch
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