title: Trial Watch: DNA vaccines for cancer therapy.
abstract: During the past 2 decades, the possibility that preparations capable of eliciting tumor-specific immune responses would mediate robust therapeutic effects in cancer patients has received renovated interest. In this context, several approaches to vaccinate cancer patients against their own malignancies have been conceived, including the administration of DNA constructs coding for one or more tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). Such DNA-based vaccines conceptually differ from other types of gene therapy in that they are not devised to directly kill cancer cells or sensitize them to the cytotoxic activity of a drug, but rather to elicit a tumor-specific immune response. In spite of an intense wave of preclinical development, the introduction of this immunotherapeutic paradigm into the clinical practice is facing difficulties. Indeed, while most DNA-based anticancer vaccines are well tolerated by cancer patients, they often fail to generate therapeutically relevant clinical responses. In this Trial Watch, we discuss the latest advances on the use of DNA-based vaccines in cancer therapy, discussing the literature that has been produced around this topic during the last 13 months as well as clinical studies that have been launched in the same time frame to assess the actual therapeutic potential of this intervention.
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris-Sud/Paris XI; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pol
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris-Sud/Paris XI; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bloy
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris-Sud/Paris XI; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Florine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Obrist
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eggermont
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France ; Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris VI; Paris, France ; INSERM, UMRS1138; Paris, France ; Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galon
authors.affiliation: Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris VI; Paris, France ; INSERM, UMRS1138; Paris, France ; Equipe 13, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Wolf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hervé Fridman
authors.affiliation: Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris VI; Paris, France ; INSERM, UMRS1138; Paris, France ; Equipe 13, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cremer
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U1015; CICBT507; Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zitvogel
authors.affiliation: Pôle de Biologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP; Paris, France ; Metabolomics and Cell Biology Platforms, Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kroemer
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galluzzi
keywords: Listeria monocytogenes; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; cross-presentation; dendritic cells; electroporation; mucosal immunity