Vaccine therapy for melanoma: Current status and future directions

Suppression of Melanoma Growth and Metastasis by DNA Vaccination Using an Ultrasound-Responsive and Mannose-Modified Gene Carrier

“…2,3 It has been reported that DNA vaccination is effective for the prevention of metastasis and relapse, 5,7,8 and especially the application of DNA vaccination against melanoma has been focused since the identification of cancer antigens such as gp100, MART-1 and TRP is proceeding in melanoma. 10-13 …”

Melanoma Immunomodulation: A War of Attrition

“…Another very promising concept in immunotherapy design which has failed to aid in the clinical setting is melanoma cancer vaccines. These can come in the form of whole cell cancer vaccines, tumor cell lysates, protein/peptide vaccines, DC loaded vaccines, viral vectors, and DNA vaccines (Terando et al, 2007). To date, the largest phase III melanoma vaccine clinical trial involving late stage III and IV melanoma compared the use of CanVaxin with the nonspecific immune stimulator Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) or BCG alone (Morton et al, 2002).…”

“…In this chapter, we have highlighted the importance of stimulating CD4+ effector T cells in developing a robust immune response through cross-presentation to CD8+ T cells and other APC, but also for their release of immunostimulatory cytokines like IFN (Corthay et al, 2005). Yet, until recently, vaccine strategies (protein/peptide, whole cell, or DC loaded vaccines) have solely used tumor Ags designed for CD8+ CTL activation (Terando et al, 2007). Though these T cells are responsible for the bulk of tumor destruction, time and time again they fail clinically to eradicate host tumors, often due to induced T cell tolerance against these Ags propagated by tumors (Terando et al, 2007).…”

“…Yet, until recently, vaccine strategies (protein/peptide, whole cell, or DC loaded vaccines) have solely used tumor Ags designed for CD8+ CTL activation (Terando et al, 2007). Though these T cells are responsible for the bulk of tumor destruction, time and time again they fail clinically to eradicate host tumors, often due to induced T cell tolerance against these Ags propagated by tumors (Terando et al, 2007). Only through the discovery and application of HLA class II specific anti-tumor melanoma Ags, effector CD4+ T cells may get the much needed stimulation required for a complete T cell response.…”

Vaccines for the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Renewed Anticancer Strategy

“…Much clinical experience has been gained with melanoma, which produced very good phase II trial data but has failed to meet major endpoints in randomized phase III trials [11]. Lung cancer, although not very immunogenic, may provide an accessible target for the properly primed immune system.…”