(Press-News.org) Cancer vaccines prime the immune system to attack cancer cells, decreasing tumor progression. IL-12p70, a molecule produced by certain types of immune cells, has been shown to reduce tumor progression, but delivering it as part of a cancer vaccine has been limited because of its toxicity in high doses. In the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Dr. Beatriz Carreno and colleagues at Washington University report the results of a clinical trial that tested a vaccine to treat newly diagnosed advanced melanoma. A portion of each patient's own immune cells, known as dendritic cells, were modified to stimulate increased production of IL-12p70 by their immune system. This method avoided the toxicity seen with previous approaches. Carreno and colleagues found that IL-12p70 enhanced the effectiveness of the vaccine. Six out of seven patients exhibited a vaccine-stimulated immune response and three patients exhibited clinically significant changes in the progression of their tumors. These results underscore the role of IL-12p70 in the development of an anti-cancer immune response.
This study was funded Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, Siteman Cancer Frontier Fund, Washington University/JNJ Translational Medicine Awards, and the National Cancer Institute. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.
###
TITLE:
IL-12p70–producing patient DC vaccine elicits Tc1-polarized immunity
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Beatriz Carreno
Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
Phone: 314-362-9407; Fax: 314-362-9333; E-mail: bcarreno@dom.wustl.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/68395?key=1d2f8ff3a42086043c24 END
Clinical trial assesses anti-melanoma vaccine's ability to induce an anti-cancer immune response
2013-07-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
As ice cover disappears, life in the frigid Antarctic moves fast
2013-07-11
VIDEO:
It might be cold in the Antarctic, but that doesn't mean that life there necessarily moves slowly. A report appearing in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on July 11...
Click here for more information.
It might be cold in the Antarctic, but that doesn't mean that life there necessarily moves slowly. A report appearing in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on July 11 reveals the discovery of a surprisingly fast-growing community of glass sponges in ...
Glass sponges take advantage of retreating Antarctic ice shelves
2013-07-11
The breakup and collapse of the Larsen A ice shelf in the western Weddell Sea in 1995 has resulted in fundamental changes to life on the sea bed in less than two decades. As reported by biologists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in the cover story of the current issue of the scientific journal Current Biology, Antarctic glass sponges have been the prime beneficiaries of the disappearance of the ice shelf. To the surprise of the scientists, the density of these archaic filter-feeders has increased threefold between 2007 ...
Recession led teens to focus on social problems and the environment
2013-07-11
During the Great Recession, high school students became more concerned about others and the environment, psychologists at San Diego State University and University of California, Los Angeles report today.
Concern for others declined significantly between the mid-1970s and 2004-2006, then rebounded between that pre-recession period and the Great Recession in 2008-2010. Compared to high school students in the pre-recession years, students who graduated from high school during the recent recession were more concerned for others, more interested in social issues and more ...
Second ACL injuries 6 times more likely after reconstruction
2013-07-11
CHICAGO, IL – Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery is a common knee injury procedure, but the overall incidence rate of having to go through it again within 24 months is 6 times greater than someone who has never had an ACL tear, according to researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
"In our study, female athletes after ACLR demonstrated more than four times greater rate of injury within 24 months than their healthy counterparts. This data highlights the ...
Hippo pathway to better cancer treatment?
2013-07-11
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered a potential new pathway to treat cancer by asking some odd questions about the size of animals.
"Mammals display a huge range in size from the largest blue whale to the tiniest fruit bat," says Colby Zaph, assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Biomedical Research Centre, who co-authored the study published in Developmental Cell.
"So why don't we have miniature whales or gigantic bats? It turns out that there are specific pathways that tell cells when to grow and when to stop."
One ...
Killer whale genetics: Redefining stock structure in a marine top predator
2013-07-11
Found in every ocean around the world, killer whales are a force to be reckoned with globally. Their remarkable social bonds and sophisticated hunting techniques make them top predators in their salty domain. For many years, it was assumed that these clever, highly mobile whales bred with each other freely in the seemingly homogeneous ocean. As our understanding of the oceans' complexity has grown, and dedicated researchers have peered ever deeper into the world of killer whales, it has become clear that the truth is far more nuanced.
As the agency responsible for conserving ...
Important advance in the fight against skin cancer
2013-07-11
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), lead by Lluís Espinosa, have identified a new function of the IB protein that is key in the development of squamous-cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. The study has been published in the prestigious journal Cancer Cell and provides a new tool for the diagnosis of the disease and, in the future, will enable the identification of novel therapeutic targets to treat this type of cancer.
"In this study we identified a new function of a protein that directly regulates the activity of the genes involved ...
Hubble spots azure blue planet
2013-07-11
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have, for the first time, determined the true colour of a planet orbiting another star. If seen up close this planet, known as HD 189733b, would be a deep cobalt blue, reminiscent of Earth's colour as seen from space.
But that's where the similarities end. This "deep blue dot" is a huge gas giant orbiting very close to its host star. The planet's atmosphere is scorching with a temperature of over 1000 degrees Celsius, and it rains glass, sideways, in howling 7000 kilometre-per-hour winds [1].
At a distance of 63 ...
Recession led teens to focus more on social problems, environment, psychologists report
2013-07-11
During the Great Recession, high school students in the U.S. became more concerned about others and the environment, psychologists at UCLA and San Diego State University report in a new study.
The research, published July 11 in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, focused on survey data collected on high school seniors during three time periods: the global recession (2008-10), just before the recession (2004-06) and the earliest period for which data were available (1976-78).
The study authors found that high school students' concern for others ...
Critical pathway in cell cycle may lead to cancer development
2013-07-11
LA JOLLA, CA ----A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has identified why disruption of a vital pathway in cell cycle control leads to the proliferation of cancer cells. Their findings on telomeres, the stretches of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect our genetic code and make it possible for cells to divide, suggest a potential target for preventive measures against cancer, aging and other diseases. The findings were published July 11 in Molecular Cell.
Telomeres have been compared to the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces because ...