title: Depletion of human regulatory T cells.
abstract: Regulatory T cells (Treg) have become increasingly relevant in the study of human disease including cancer. Treg cells have been shown to inhibit anti-tumor immune responses, and elevated Treg levels have been associated with certain types of cancer. Similarly, depletion of Tregs by various methods can also enhance anti-tumor immune responses. We have found a prevalence of Treg in cancer patients when compared to normal volunteers. In addition, we have shown that the depletion of Treg using the IL-2 fusion protein denileukin diftitox decreased Treg function and increased antigen-specific T cell response to a cancer vaccine. These results indicate the potential for combining Treg depletion with anti-cancer vaccines to enhance tumor antigen-specific immune responses and the need to explore the dose and schedule of Treg depletion strategies in optimizing vaccine efforts.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Amy C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Hobeika
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osada
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peplinski
authors.forename: H Kim
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lyerly
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Clay
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D004167:Diphtheria Toxin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D004167:Diphtheria Toxin; D007376:Interleukin-2; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C078456:denileukin diftitox