Tumor vaccines in renal cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Although most vaccines target foreign infectious agents, therapeutic cancer vaccines target both well-established and metastatic tumor cells expressing tumor antigens. Active immunotherapy is intended to enhance or activate the immunosurveillance of an individual through a therapeutic vaccine. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most immunoresponsive cancers in humans, which in turn makes it an ideal candidate for immune based therapies.


METHODS
Several types of therapeutic vaccines have been tested and applied in the clinical setting and can be divided into cell-based vaccines including direct application of inactivated autologous tumor cells, gene modified tumor cell-based, dendritic cell-based (expressing RCC derived tumor antigens), and non-cell-based vaccines. This review will examine the current status of cell-based vaccine immunotherapy and focuses on non-cell-based vaccine strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Recent advances in molecular targeting therapy have introduced a battery receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and mTOR inhibitors that provide promising treatment options, however, the tolerability of tumor vaccines and the success of clinical effectiveness in selected populations combined with recent advances in cellular therapies warrant the continued exploration of novel methods of tumor vaccine therapies in the clinical setting.
Uemura
Hirotsugu
H
Department of Urology, Kinki University School of Medicine, 377-2 Ohno-Higashi, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka 589-8511, Japan. huemura@med.kindai.ac.jp
De Velasco
Marco A
MA
D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011506:Proteins; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D011506:Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases