Dr Hasumi - Landes Bioscience Research Paper
OncoImmunology 2:10, e26381; October 2013
OncoImmunology © 2013 Landes Bioscience
http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/onci.26381
Clinical response of advanced cancer patients to cellular immunotherapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy
Kenichiro Hasumi 1, Yukimasa Aoki 1, Ryuko Watanabe 1, and Dean L. Mann 2,*
1 Hasumi International Research Foundation; Tokyo Research Center; Tokyo, Japan;
2 Department of Pathology; University of Maryland School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD USA
Submitted : 05/17/2013; Revised : 09/04/2013; Accepted : 09/05/2013
Keywords : activated T cells, cancer vaccine, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, immature dendritic cells, intratumoral injection
Introduction : Currently, few treatment options are available for patients with recurrent and advanced stage malignancies that fail to respond to conventional therapeutic modalities. One approach has been to conduct clinical trials to develop new drugs targeting a particular type of cancer. These drugs are often, if not routinely, pushed to a dosage nearing toxic levels in order to achieve an antitumor response. In many cancer centers, an alternative approach with considerably less toxicity (and thus morbidity) is being explored, an approach designed to stimulate antitumor immune responses in the host. These studies are progressing along with advances in our understanding of the complexities of the immune response and the potential to manipulate these responses to constrain malignant disease. One of the important recent advances in this area is the recognition that dendritic cells (DCs) are obligate contributors to the elicitation of efficient immune responses. Thus, a number of clinical trials have been initiated to test the use of DCs as antigen-presenting vehicles activate immunity and generate effective antitumor immune responses.
