Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2012
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Clinical and Developmental Immunology
Volume
2012
DOI
10.1155/2012/760965
Date of Submission
September 2014
Abstract
The advancement of cancer immunotherapy faces barriers which limit its efficacy. These include weak immunogenicity of the tumor, as well as immunosuppressive mechanisms which prevent effective antitumor immune responses. Recent studies suggest that aberrant expression of cancer testis antigens (CTAs) can generate robust antitumor immune responses, which implicates CTAs as potential targets for immunotherapy. However, the heterogeneity of tumor cells in the presence and quantity of CTA expression results in tumor escape from CTA-specific immune responses. Thus, the ability to modulate the tumor cell epigenome to homogenously induce expression of such antigens will likely render the tumor more immunogenic. Additionally, emerging studies suggest that suppression of antitumor immune responses may be overcome by reprogramming innate and adaptive immune cells. Therefore, this paper discusses recent studies which address barriers to successful cancer immunotherapy and proposes a strategy of modulation of tumor-immune cell crosstalk to improve responses in carcinoma patients.
Rights
Copyright © 2012 Kyle K. Payne et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU Microbiology and Immunology Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/760965