Tumour immunotherapy: new tools, new treatment modalities and new T-cell antigens

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Tumour immunology has seen many exciting developments in the last few years. In addition to tumour antigens that are defined by antitumour T‐ and B‐cell responses in patients, the human telomerase reverse transcriptase has been identified by ‘reverse immunology’ as the first truly universal tumour antigen. Molecular remission has been associated with a cancer vaccine that targets the clonal idiotype of B‐cell malignancies, and sophisticated cellular vaccines (including fusions of tumour cells and antigen‐presenting cells) have demonstrated promising results. Moreover, our capabilities of measuring immunity have been significantly enhanced by novel technology, such as major histocompatibility complex (MHC)–peptide tetramers and ELISPOT analysis. We are now capable of tracking antigen‐specific T cells at a single cell level. This review will analyse recent developments and highlight some important issues that need to be addressed in the future.