Cancer immunotherapy by fusions of dendritic cells and tumor cells.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent professional antigen-presenting cells and play a critical role in the induction of primary immune responses. DC-based vaccination represents a potentially powerful strategy for cancer immunotherapy. Thus, the use of cancer vaccines to eliminate residual tumor cells is a promising area of investigation. The immunotherapy of tumor antigen-loaded DCs has now been demonstrated in cancer patients and some clinical responses without any significant toxicity. Fusions of DCs and tumor cells represent an alternative but promising approach to overcome the inability of tumor antigens to induce a sustainable T-cell response. This review deals with recent progress in the immunotherapy of cancer with fusions of DCs and tumor cells.
Koido
Shigeo
S
Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University, Tokyo, Japan. shigeo_koido@jikei.ac.jp
Hara
Eiichi
E
Homma
Sadamu
S
Ohkusa
Toshifumi
T
Gong
Jianlin
J
Tajiri
Hisao
H
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002459:Cell Fusion / Q000379:methods; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines