Synergy of SOCS-1 Inhibition and Microbial-Based Cancer Vaccines.

摘要

Cells with DNA mutations can be recognized by the immune system and many times, eliminated before causing disease. When these cells have lost the ability to control their own proliferation, and when the immune system can no longer recognize them, a tumor may occur. The objective of cancer immunotherapy is to retrain the immune system to recognize tumor cells, leading to control of tumor growth or even complete eradication of the tumor. Vaccines capable of teaching the immune system to recognize cancer cells must be extremely potent. Many researchers are exploring the use of live-attenuated microbes as vaccines for the treatment of cancer. Because the immune response elicited by these microbes is extremely potent, the immune system responds vigorously before being shut down by regulatory pathways pre-programmed in the immune system. By modifying how these regulatory pathways function in specific cells of the immune system, we can improve the tumor-specific immune response without causing additional risk to the patient. The goal of our proposal is to modify a live attenuated vaccine vector based on the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes to promote a tumor-specific immune response while concurrently removing the brakes from a portion of the immune system. We believe this will increase the magnitude and quality of the tumor-specific immune response and improve the effectiveness of these cancer vaccines.