title: A hepatic stem cell vaccine is superior to an embryonic stem cell vaccine in the prophylaxis and treatment of murine hepatocarcinoma.
abstract: Stem cells and cancer cells express a common subset of antigens called oncofetal antigens. Theoretically, vaccination with stem cells is effective at boosting the preexisting anticancer immune response. Herein we describe the efficacy of two stem cell-based vaccines in the prophylaxis and treatment of subcutaneous hepatic tumors transplanted into mice. C57BL/6j mice were vaccinated weekly with either hepatic stem cells (HSCs) or embryonic stem cells (ESCs) for three weeks, followed by a subcutaneous challenge with Hepa 1-6 cells at one week (group 1) or four weeks (group 2) after vaccination. No tumor formation was observed in HSC-vaccinated mice when challenged within one week after vaccination (group 1), but tumors formed in 10% of mice in the ESC-vaccinated group and in 60% of mice in the unvaccinated group. When the long-term memory response was examined (group 2), only 10% of HSC-vaccinated mice and 20% of ESC-vaccinated mice developed macroscopic hepatocarcinomas compared to 60% of the unvaccinated mice. Besides their function as prophylactic vaccines, administration of either HSC or ESC could be a potential treatment for cancer. In mice with subcutaneous hepatocarcinomas, complete clearance of tumor burden was observed in 80% of mice receiving HSC vaccination, but 40% of ESC-vaccinated mice presented with tumors that did not increase in size over time. These data support that HSC is a superior vaccine candidate for durable antitumor protection in this hepatocarcinoma model.
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yichao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yueyong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yurui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jia Ji
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines