1993/04/15 by Glen Dranoff, Elizabeth M. Jaffee, A Lazenby +7 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Immunology and Microbiology · Medicine · #CAR-T cell therapy research #Immunotherapy and Immune Responses #Virus-based gene therapy research
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.90.8.3539
openalex publication_date 1993/04/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/21
To compare the ability of different cytokines and other molecules to enhance the immunogenicity of tumor cells, we generated 10 retroviruses encoding potential immunomodulators and studied the vaccination properties of murine tumor cells transduced by the viruses. Using a B16 melanoma model, in which irradiated tumor cells alone do not stimulate significant anti-tumor immunity, we found that irradiated tumor cells expressing murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulated potent, long-lasting, and specific anti-tumor immunity, requiring both CD4+ and CD8+ cells. Irradiated cells expressing interleukins 4 and 6 also stimulated detectable, but weaker, activity. In contrast to the B16 system, we found that in a number of other tumor models, the levels of anti-tumor immunity reported previously in cytokine gene transfer studies involving live, transduced cells could be achieved through the use of irradiated cells alone. Nevertheless, manipulation of the vaccine or challenge doses made it possible to demonstrate the activity of murine GM-CSF in those systems as well. Overall, our results have important implications for the clinical use of genetically modified tumor cells as therapeutic cancer vaccines.