Personalized Cancer Vaccination: A Case Study
The emergence of personalized cancer vaccine was based on the exploitation of tumor mutations and their ability to establish an immune response in the body. Given that about 95% of a tumor mutation is specific to the one patient concerned, the idea of exploring those mutations on an individual level has become more popular. The basis of the personalized cancer vaccine concept is that each cancer patient has tumor cells that produce specific neoepitopes, which are the mutated proteins specific to that tumor in that one patient. Therefore, if each tumor cells in a patient expresses neoepitopes that are different from other patients’ mutated proteins, it’s logical to focus on each patient individually and to make use of those specific proteins
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First of all, dendritic cells are isolated from the prostate cancer patient. The specific tumor antigen is then isolated, which in this case is the prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). The dendritic cells are then exposed in vitro to a fusion protein that is consistent of PAP and GM-CSF, which is a cytokine important in the activation and proliferation of these dendritic cells. The activated APCs are then reinfused into the patient and stimulate TH and Tc cells which then specifically target tumor cells in the prostate that express the PAP protein and destroy them. In addition to this method that enhances the immune response specifically for a certain type of antigen-expressing tumors, the GM-CSF cytokine could also be used in a different way. Tumor cells can be transfected with the gene encoding for GM-CSF and thus are engineered to express this cytokine when infused back into the patient. As a result of high expression of GM-CSF around the local tumor area, antigen-presenting cells, mainly dendritic cells, are stimulated to differentiate and activate the immune response by presenting the antigens to TH cells and -cytotoxic T cells (CTLs). That being said, the transfection of the tumor cells with GM-CSF gene also represents an interesting tumor vaccinations that, once is manipulated in vitro, could be infused back into the patient and
First of all, dendritic cells are isolated from the prostate cancer patient. The specific tumor antigen is then isolated, which in this case is the prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). The dendritic cells are then exposed in vitro to a fusion protein that is consistent of PAP and GM-CSF, which is a cytokine important in the activation and proliferation of these dendritic cells. The activated APCs are then reinfused into the patient and stimulate TH and Tc cells which then specifically target tumor cells in the prostate that express the PAP protein and destroy them. In addition to this method that enhances the immune response specifically for a certain type of antigen-expressing tumors, the GM-CSF cytokine could also be used in a different way. Tumor cells can be transfected with the gene encoding for GM-CSF and thus are engineered to express this cytokine when infused back into the patient. As a result of high expression of GM-CSF around the local tumor area, antigen-presenting cells, mainly dendritic cells, are stimulated to differentiate and activate the immune response by presenting the antigens to TH cells and -cytotoxic T cells (CTLs). That being said, the transfection of the tumor cells with GM-CSF gene also represents an interesting tumor vaccinations that, once is manipulated in vitro, could be infused back into the patient and