hematology and oncology
Immunotherapy of Cancer
Active Specific Immunotherapy
Inducing Cellular Immunity (involving cytotoxic T cells) in a host that failed to spontaneously develop an effective response generally involves methods to enhance presentation of tumor antigens to host effector cells. Cellular immunity can be induced to specific, very well-defined antigens. Several techniques can be used to stimulate a host response; these techniques may involve giving peptides, DNA, or tumor cells (from the host or another patient). Peptides and DNA can be delivered directly, transcutaneously to myeloid or dendritic cells using electroporation or injection with adjuvants, or indirectly using antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells). These dendritic cells can also be genetically modified to secrete additional immune-response stimulants (eg, use peptides from defined TAAs. An increasing number of TAAs have been identified as the targets of T cells in cancer patients and are being tested in clinical trials. Recent data indicate that responses are most potent if the TAAs are delivered using dendritic cells. These cells are obtained from the patient, loaded with the desired TAA, and then reintroduced intradermally; they stimulate endogenous T cells to respond to the TAA. The peptides also can be delivered by co-administration with immunogenic adjuvants ( Active specific immunotherapy references ). use recombinant DNA that encodes a specific (defined) antigenic protein. The DNA is delivered directly via transcutaneous electroporation, incorporated into viruses that are injected directly into patients, or introduced into dendritic cells obtained from the patients, which are then injected back into them. The DNA expresses the target antigen, which triggers or enhances patients’ immune response. Clinical trials of DNA vaccines have shown promising results ( Active specific immunotherapy references ). (cells taken from other patients) have been used in patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and were successfully used during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which has sparked interest in developing them as an immunotherapeutic treatment for cancer ( Active specific immunotherapy references ). 1.Stephens AJ, Burgess-Brown NA, Jiang S: Beyond Just Peptide Antigens: The Complex World of Peptide-Based Cancer Vaccines.Front Immunol12:696791, 2021. Published 2021 Jun 30. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.696791 2.Lopes A, Vandermeulen G, Préat V: Cancer DNA vaccines: current preclinical and clinical developments and future perspectives.J Exp Clin Cancer Res38(1):146, 2019. doi:10.1186/s13046-019-1154-7 3.Lin MJ, Svensson-Arvelund J, Lubitz GS, et al: Cancer vaccines: the next immunotherapy frontier.Nat Cancer3 (8):911–926, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00418-6 