title: Peptide-based immunotherapy for multiple myeloma: current approaches.
abstract: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal B-cell malignancy with many fatal clinical sequelae. Despite extensive therapeutic approaches, cures remain rare exceptions. A recent promising area of investigation is the development of immunotherapeutic approaches that target and eliminate myeloma cells more selectively. Because of its potential to promote the destruction of cancerous cells via cytotoxic T-cell responses, peptide-based immunotherapy is one of these strategies to have attracted considerable attention. Furthermore, many studies were carried out to identify the best epitope peptides, the optimal vaccine formulation and schedule, and the preferable clinical situation for vaccination. Based on these results, various epitope peptides have been identified that may be selectively targeted by host immunity, and various approaches have been used to enhance the immune responses of peptides. This chapter focuses on reviewing previous immunotherapy trials, describing the current strategies for peptide-based immunotherapy, and discussing the achievable prospects in MM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Hematology, The Affiliated No. 2 Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, The West Five Road, No. 157, Xi'an 710004, PR China. zhoufuling@163.com
authors.forename: Fu-Ling
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Wang-Gang
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yong-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Xing-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Gai-Gai
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Bai-Yan
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D010455:Peptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D010455:Peptides