title: Cytokine gene-mediated immunotherapy: current status and future perspectives.
abstract: Recent understanding of the molecular events crucial in overcoming immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments and generating effective antitumor immunity provides us with the wreath opportunity to manipulate genes that have a key role in antitumor immune responses. Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) are two indispensable cytokines for activating dendritic cells and boosting the strong immune responses against cancer. In this review, we describe the antitumor mechanisms and clinical application of gene-modified tumor cells and dendritic cells to secrete GM-CSF or IL-12, respectively, in various preclinical and clinical settings. The principles operative in these vaccination strategies may prove applicable to other immunotherapy strategies, especially in combination with other therapeutic modalities, such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Bioengineering Advanced Clinical Research Center, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jinushi
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tahara
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D005544:Forecasting; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D018664:Interleukin-12; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor