Wefers Christina, Schreibelt Gerty, Massuger Leon F A G, de Vries I Jolanda M, Torensma Ruurd
Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Front Immunol. 2018 Jun 19;9:1412. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01412. eCollection 2018.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified as the source of tumor growth and disease recurrence. Eradication of CSCs is thus essential to achieve durable responses, but CSCs are resistant to current anti-tumor therapies. Novel therapeutic approaches that specifically target CSCs will, therefore, be crucial to improve patient outcome. Immunotherapies, which boost the body's own immune system to eliminate cancerous cells, could be an alternative approach to target CSCs. Vaccines of dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with tumor antigens can evoke highly specific anti-tumor T cell responses. Importantly, DC vaccination also promotes immunological memory formation, paving the way for long-term cancer control. Here, we propose a DC vaccination that specifically targets CSCs. DCs loaded with NANOG peptides, a protein required for maintaining stem cell properties, could evoke a potent anti-tumor immune response against CSCs. We hypothesize that the resulting immunological memory will also control newly formed CSCs, thereby preventing disease recurrence.
癌症干细胞（CSCs）已被确认为肿瘤生长和疾病复发的根源。因此，根除癌症干细胞对于实现持久疗效至关重要，但癌症干细胞对当前的抗肿瘤疗法具有抗性。因此，专门针对癌症干细胞的新型治疗方法对于改善患者预后至关重要。免疫疗法可增强人体自身免疫系统以消除癌细胞，可能是一种针对癌症干细胞的替代方法。负载肿瘤抗原的树突状细胞（DCs）疫苗可引发高度特异性的抗肿瘤T细胞反应。重要的是，DC疫苗接种还能促进免疫记忆形成，为长期控制癌症铺平道路。在此，我们提出一种专门针对癌症干细胞的DC疫苗接种方法。负载NANOG肽（一种维持干细胞特性所需的蛋白质）的DCs可引发针对癌症干细胞的强效抗肿瘤免疫反应。我们假设由此产生的免疫记忆也将控制新形成的癌症干细胞，从而预防疾病复发。
