title: Nanoparticle-based immunotherapy for cancer.
abstract: The design of nanovaccines capable of triggering effective antitumor immunity requires an understanding of how the immune system senses and responds to threats, including pathogens and tumors. Equally important is an understanding of the mechanisms employed by tumor cells to evade immunity and an appreciation of the deleterious effects that antitumor immune responses can have on tumor growth, such as by skewing tumor cell composition toward immunologically silent tumor cell variants. The immune system and tumors engage in a tug-of-war driven by competition where promoting antitumor immunity or tumor cell death alone may be therapeutically insufficient. Nanotechnology affords a unique opportunity to develop therapeutic compounds than can simultaneously tackle both aspects, favoring tumor eradication. Here, we review the current status of nanoparticle-based immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer, ranging from antigen/adjuvant delivery vehicles (to professional antigen-presenting cell types of the immune system) to direct tumor antigen-specific T-lymphocyte-targeting compounds and their combinations thereof.
authors.affiliation: Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre (JMDRC) and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cummings School of Medicine, University of Calgary , Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1 Canada.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Santiswarup
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singha
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Clemente-Casares
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santamaria
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007157:Immunologic Surveillance; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines
keywords: T-lymphocytes; cancer immunotherapy; danger-associated molecular patterns; environment-responsive nanoparticles; lymphocyte co-stimulators; nanoparticles; targeted delivery; tumor immune evasion; tumor immune surveillance; tumor immunoediting; tumor-associated antigens; vaccines