Bracci Laura, Proietti Enrico, Belardelli Filippo
Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep;1112:256-68. doi: 10.1196/annals.1415.030. Epub 2007 Jun 13.
Interferons-alpha (IFN-alpha) are a group of cytokines belonging to type I IFN family, which exert multiple biological effects, including antiviral and antitumor activities in patients with defined types of cancer and viral diseases. Early studies in mouse tumor models have shown the importance of host immune mechanisms in the generation of a long-lasting antitumor response after type I IFN treatment. Recent studies have revealed new immunomodulatory effects of IFN-alpha, including activities on T cells and dendritic cells (DCs), which may explain the immune correlates frequently observed in some categories of cancer patients responding to IFN-alpha therapy. Of note, new knowledge has recently been generated on the mechanisms of action of some chemotherapeutic agents, such as cyclophosphamide (CTX), on cells of the immune system, whose effects can now be exploited for the design of more effective combination therapies. On the whole, the new strategies based on IFN-alpha include the in vivo use of these cytokines as immune adjuvants of cancer vaccines, their in vitro use to generate highly active DC-based vaccines, and the combination of certain chemotherapy regimens with IFN-alpha-adjuvanted cancer vaccines.
α干扰素（IFN-α）是一类属于I型干扰素家族的细胞因子，可发挥多种生物学效应，包括在特定类型癌症和病毒疾病患者中具有抗病毒和抗肿瘤活性。早期在小鼠肿瘤模型中的研究表明，宿主免疫机制在I型干扰素治疗后产生持久抗肿瘤反应中具有重要作用。最近的研究揭示了IFN-α的新免疫调节作用，包括对T细胞和树突状细胞（DC）的作用，这可能解释了在某些对IFN-α治疗有反应的癌症患者中经常观察到的免疫相关性。值得注意的是，最近关于某些化疗药物（如环磷酰胺（CTX））对免疫系统细胞作用机制有了新认识，其作用现在可用于设计更有效的联合疗法。总体而言，基于IFN-α的新策略包括在体内将这些细胞因子用作癌症疫苗的免疫佐剂，在体外使用它们来制备高活性的基于DC的疫苗，以及将某些化疗方案与IFN-α佐剂癌症疫苗相结合。
