© 2004 by Oxford University Press
© 2004 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
Excitement Tempered by Long Road Ahead for Dendritic Cell Vaccines
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Cancer vaccines based on dendritic cells—the immune system's first responders to foreign invaders—grabbed the spotlight this summer. Several vaccines showed remarkable responses in early clinical trials in patients with advanced tumors, and in one animal study, a dendritic cell vaccine wiped out tumors in mice with melanoma.
At this point, it is anybody's guess which, if any, of several approaches to vaccination using dendritic cells will make a difference for cancer patients. The scientists who are doing the work mix terms like "cautious optimism" and "potentially promising" with "uphill battle" and "suboptimal process."
"We're learning how to find tumor antigens, how to make more effective vaccines and make them more potent, and how to block or turn off negative regulatory mechanisms of tumors," said Jay A. Berzofsky, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Vaccine Branch at the National Cancer Institute.
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"Dendritic cells are clearly the most
Tumor Cell Vaccines
To Each His Own Approach