Unleashing the Therapeutic Potential of Dendritic and T Cell Therapies Using RNA Interference.

Therapeutic dendritic cell (DC) cancer vaccines work to boost the body's immune system to fight a cancer. Although this type of immunotherapy often leads to the activation of tumor-specfic T cells, clinical responses are fairly low, arguing for the need to improve the design of DC-based vaccines. Recent studies revealed a promising strategy of combining DC vaccines with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting immunosuppressive signals such as checkpoint receptors. Similarly, incorporating checkpoint siRNA blockers in adoptive T-cell therapy to amplify cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses is now being tested in the clinic. The development of the next generation of cancer immunotherapies using siRNA technology will hopefuly benefit patients with various cancer types including those who did not respond to current therapies. This review highlights the latest advances in RNA interference technology to improve the therapeutic efficacy of DC cancer vaccines and T cell therapy.