Publication Date:
2014-09-21
Description:
Tumor-induced immunosuppression remains a major challenge for immunotherapy of cancer patients. To further elucidate why an allogeneic gene-modified (Interleukin-7(IL-7)/CD80- co-transfected) renal cell cancer vaccine failed to induce clinically relevant TH-1-polarized immune responses, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from enrolled study patients were analyzed by gene expression profiling (GEP) both prior and after vaccination. At baseline before vaccination, a profound downregulation of gene signatures associated with antigen presentation, immune response/T cells, cytokines/chemokines, and signaling/transcription factors was observed in renal cell cancer patients as compared to healthy controls. Vaccination led to a partial reversion of preexisting immunosuppression, however, GEP indicated that an appropriate TH-1 polarization could not be achieved. Most interestingly, our results suggest that the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway might be involved in the impairment of immunological responsiveness and the observed TH-2 deviation. In summary, our data suggest that GEP might be a powerful tool for the prediction of immunosuppression and the monitoring of immune responses within immunotherapy trials. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Print ISSN:
0020-7136
Electronic ISSN:
1097-0215
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
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