Cancer vaccines

Abstract

The role of the immune system in preventing the development of tumours was first suggested by Paul Ehrlich in the early 1900s. Half a century later, Lewis Thomas and McFarlaine Burnet introduced the concept of immunosurveillance, meaning that immune cells while continuously patrolling the body recognise special antigens present only on transformed cells and eliminate these cells. They suggested that the type of cell responsible for tumour immunosurveillance is the T cell [1]. Direct experimental evidence confirming this hypothesis came from immunodeficient mouse strains, where the lack of certain components of the cellular immune response, such as interferon (IFN)-γ, perforin, and tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), lead to significantly more aggressive growth of experimental tumours [2]. More importantly, late onset of spontaneously occurring adenocarcinoma has been observed in IFN-γ and perforin-deficient mice [3]. Indirect evidence in humans is the survival benefit of cancer patients with tumours infiltrated with activated CD8+ T cells, observed in numerous cancers such as ovarian, prostate, colorectal, and mesothelioma [4-8]. © 2009 Springer-Verlag New York.