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Marcucci F, Rumio C. The tumor-promoting effects of the adaptive immune system: a cause of hyperprogressive disease in cancer? Cell Mol Life Sci 2021; 78:853-865. [PMID: 32940721 PMCID: PMC11072297 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-020-03606-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive antitumor immune responses, either cellular or humoral, aim at eliminating tumor cells expressing the cognate antigens. There are some instances, however, where these same immune responses have tumor-promoting effects. These effects can lead to the expansion of antigen-negative tumor cells, tumor cell proliferation and tumor growth, metastatic dissemination, resistance to antitumor therapy and apoptotic stimuli, acquisition of tumor-initiating potential and activation of various forms of survival mechanisms. We describe the basic mechanisms that underlie tumor-promoting adaptive immune responses and try to identify the variables that induce the switching of a tumor-inhibitory, cellular or humoral immune response, into a tumor-promoting one. We suggest that tumor-promoting adaptive immune responses may be at the origin of at least a fraction of hyperprogressive diseases (HPD) that are observed in cancer patients during therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and, less frequently, with single-agent chemotherapy. We also propose the use of non-invasive biomarkers allowing to predict which patients may undergo HPD during ICI and other forms of antitumor therapy. Eventually, we suggest possibilities of therapeutic intervention allowing to inhibit tumor-promoting adaptive immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Marcucci
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, via Trentacoste 2, Milan, Italy.
| | - Cristiano Rumio
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, via Trentacoste 2, Milan, Italy
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2
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Basel MT, Narayanan S, Ganta C, Shreshta TB, Marquez A, Pyle M, Hill J, Bossmann SH, Troyer DL. Developing a xenograft human tumor model in immunocompetent mice. Cancer Lett 2018; 412:256-263. [DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2017.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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Enderling H, Hlatky L, Hahnfeldt P. Immunoediting: evidence of the multifaceted role of the immune system in self-metastatic tumor growth. Theor Biol Med Model 2012; 9:31. [PMID: 22838395 PMCID: PMC3499182 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4682-9-31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2012] [Accepted: 05/16/2012] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The role of the immune system in tumor progression has been a subject for discussion for many decades. Numerous studies suggest that a low immune response might be beneficial, if not necessary, for tumor growth, and only a strong immune response can counter tumor growth and thus inhibit progression. Methods We implement a cellular automaton model previously described that captures the dynamical interactions between the cancer stem and non-stem cell populations of a tumor through a process of self-metastasis. By overlaying on this model the diffusion of immune reactants into the tumor from a peripheral source to target cells, we simulate the process of immune-system-induced cell kill on tumor progression. Results A low cytotoxic immune reaction continuously kills cancer cells and, although at a low rate, thereby causes the liberation of space-constrained cancer stem cells to drive self-metastatic progression and continued tumor growth. With increasing immune system strength, however, tumor growth peaks, and then eventually falls below the intrinsic tumor sizes observed without an immune response. With this increasing immune response the number and proportion of cancer stem cells monotonically increases, implicating an additional unexpected consequence, that of cancer stem cell selection, to the immune response. Conclusions Cancer stem cells and immune cytotoxicity alone are sufficient to explain the three-step “immunoediting” concept – the modulation of tumor growth through inhibition, selection and promotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heiko Enderling
- Center of Cancer Systems Biology, Steward St, Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, 736 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02135, USA
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Upile T, Jerjes W, Al-Khawalde M, Radhi H, Sudhoff H. Oral sex, cancer and death: sexually transmitted cancers. HEAD & NECK ONCOLOGY 2012; 4:31. [PMID: 22673108 PMCID: PMC3448502 DOI: 10.1186/1758-3284-4-31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2012] [Accepted: 06/06/2012] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
We briefly highlight the growing body of recent evidence linking unprotected oral sex with the development of some types of head and neck cancer in younger patients. These tumours appear to be increasing in incidence although the development of more sensitive methods of HPV detection may be a confounding factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahwinder Upile
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Chase Farm & Barnet NHS Trust, Enfield, UK.
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Luborsky JL, Yu Y, Edassery SL, Jaffar J, Yip YY, Liu P, Hellstrom KE, Hellstrom I. Autoantibodies to mesothelin in infertility. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011; 20:1970-8. [PMID: 21846819 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-11-0139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND According to extensive epidemiologic data, infertility is associated with increased ovarian cancer risk. Previous studies showed that both women with infertility and those with ovarian cancer have autoantibodies to ovarian antigens. The objective was to determine if women with infertility have antibodies to mesothelin, a well-characterized ovarian cancer antigen. METHODS Sera were obtained from women with infertility (n = 109), ovarian cancer (n = 28), benign ovarian tumors or cysts (n = 24), and from healthy women (n = 152). Infertility included those with a risk for ovarian cancer; endometriosis (n = 23), ovulatory dysfunction (n = 17), premature ovarian failure (POF; n = 25) and unexplained infertility (n = 44). Sera were assayed for mesothelin antibodies and for circulating mesothelin antigen by immunoassay and compared with assay control sera (n = 16) to determine a positive result. RESULTS Mesothelin antibodies were significantly more frequent in women with prematurely reduced ovarian function including ovulatory dysfunction (59%), ovarian failure (44%) and unexplained infertility (25%) compared with controls. In contrast, women with endometriosis, who also have a high risk for ovarian cancer, did not have mesothelin antibodies. Serum levels of mesothelin were rarely elevated in women with infertility but were high in most patients with ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPACT We show for the first time that antibodies to mesothelin, a well-characterized ovarian cancer antigen, occur in some women with epidemiologic risk for ovarian cancer. The results suggest it may be possible to identify which women with infertility have ovarian cancer risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith L Luborsky
- Department of Pharmacology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
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Moon EY, Yi GH, Kang JS, Lim JS, Kim HM, Pyo S. An increase in mouse tumor growth by an in vivo immunomodulating effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. J Immunotoxicol 2011; 8:56-67. [PMID: 21288165 DOI: 10.3109/1547691x.2010.543995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Here, we investigated whether titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles affect in vivo tumor growth through the modulation of mononuclear leukocytes. In vitro lymphocyte proliferation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or concanavalin A (ConA) was reduced by < 25 nm TiO₂ with a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, TiO₂ nanoparticles inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production from bone marrow-derived macrophages obtained from naïve mice. When mice were intraperitoneally (IP) injected with < 25 or < 100 nm TiO₂ once a day for 7 days, total cell number of splenocytes was reduced in the spleen of TiO₂ nanoparticle-exposed mice. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocyte numbers were significantly decreased and B-lymphocyte development was retarded by host exposure to the TiO₂ nanoparticles. LPS-stimulated spleen cell proliferation was significantly reduced by host exposure to < 25 or < 100 nm TiO₂, but no changes were detected in ConA-stimulated spleen cell proliferation. Further, LPS-stimulated cytokine production by peritoneal macrophages and the percentage of NK1.1+ natural killer cells among splenocytes was reduced by the host exposures to the TiO₂ nanoparticles. When mice were IP injected with TiO₂ nanoparticles once a day for 28 days prior to the subcutaneous implantation of B16F10 melanoma cells, tumor growth was subsequently significantly increased. Collectively, these results show that TiO₂ nanoparticles may damage the development and proliferation of B- and T-lymphocytes, reduce the activity of macrophages, and decrease natural killer (NK) cell population levels, outcomes that appear to lead to an increase in tumor growth in situ. These studies allow us to suggest that TiO₂ nanoparticles might have the potential to enhance tumor growth through immunomodulation of B- and T-lymphocytes, macrophages, and NK cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun-Yi Moon
- Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Characiejus D, Hodzic J, Jacobs JJL. "First do no harm" and the importance of prediction in oncology. EPMA J 2010; 1:369-375. [PMID: 21151487 PMCID: PMC2987560 DOI: 10.1007/s13167-010-0042-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2010] [Accepted: 07/02/2010] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Present cancer treatment strategies are based on the assumption that a therapy may work (“response”) or not work (“no-response”). However, the existing evidence suggests that current cancer treatment modalities may also have a cancer-promoting effect in part of the patients. In this paper, some relevant data are reviewed suggesting that surgery, irradiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy can stimulate tumor growth / metastatic spread and decrease survival of patients in certain subgroups. Thus, results of cancer treatment may be improved by detection and use of biomarkers that correlate with positive or negative therapeutic effects. Small trials based on groups with differing biomarkers rather than large phase III trials may aid the development and efficacy testing of new anticancer drugs. Moreover, ignoring biomarkers that correlate with positive or negative therapeutic effect may not be compatible anymore with the ethical principle “First Do No Harm”.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dainius Characiejus
- Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Čiurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
- Center for Innovative Medicine, Žygimantų 9, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Jasmina Hodzic
- Department of Medical Oncology, VU University Medical Centre, de Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - John J. L. Jacobs
- Department of Urology, VU University Medical Centre, de Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Biphasic effect of a primary tumor on the growth of secondary tumor implants. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2010; 136:1605-15. [DOI: 10.1007/s00432-010-0818-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2009] [Accepted: 02/01/2010] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Abstract
The growths of many and perhaps all tumors may be stimulated rather than inhibited by a quantitatively low level of immunity. The reason tumors have antigens may be that tumors do not develop in vivo in the absence of at least a minimal immune reaction; in this sense, cancer may be considered an autoimmune disease. This review, based largely on the work of our own laboratory, outlines the data showing that the titration of anti-tumor immunity exhibits the phenomenon of hormesis, i.e. the dose-response curve is non-linear such that low levels of immunity are generally stimulatory but larger quantities of the same immune reactants may inhibit tumor growth. Evidence is also reviewed that suggests that the immune response may vary qualitatively and quantitatively during progression, such that there seems to be, during oncogenesis, a very low level of immune reaction that aids initial tumor growth, followed by a larger reaction that may cause remission of early neoplasms, followed, if the neoplasm survives, by a relative immunologic tolerance to the tumor that may be dependent, at least in part, on suppressor cells. This knowledge may help to explain some clinical observations concerning the relationships among tumor types and the organ distribution of metastases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richmond T Prehn
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98118, USA.
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Ran Y, Hu H, Zhou Z, Yu L, Sun L, Pan J, Liu J, Yang Z. Profiling tumor-associated autoantibodies for the detection of colon cancer. Clin Cancer Res 2008; 14:2696-700. [PMID: 18451234 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-07-2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to screen the autoantibody signature of colon cancers to develop serum markers for colon cancer detection. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A phage cDNA expression library of colon cancer was built. The library was sequentially screened by a pool of 10 colon cancer sera, goat antihuman IgG, and a pool of two healthy sera to identify phage-expressed antigens recognized by tumor-associated antibodies. The clones picked out by these screening were subjected to a training set with 24 colon cancer sera and 24 healthy sera. The antigen combination, which got the most satisfactory classification, was tested by an independent set of 24 colon cancer sera with equal number of sera from normal donors. The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level of these sera was detected for the additional classification analysis with or without the antigen combination. RESULTS A cDNA expression library consisting of 2 x 10(6) primary clones was prepared. After three turns of screening, 24 antigens recognized by tumor-associated antibodies were picked out for serum marker identification. The training set showed that a six-marker combination got the most satisfactory classification in a logistic regression model; leave-one-out validation achieved 91.7% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity. In a testing set with this marker panel, we correctly predicted 85% of the samples. Although according to CEA level alone, we correctly predicted 75% of the samples with 42% of cancer patients misclassified. When CEA was combined with the six markers, the sensitivity and specificity increased to 91.7% and 95.8%, respectively. The six antigen sequences in the phage display system are relatively short peptides. Only two of them showed homology to known protein sequences. CONCLUSIONS Autoantibodies against phage-expressed antigens derived from colon cancer tissues could be used as serum markers for the detection of colon cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuliang Ran
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cancer Institute (Hospital), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China
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Padler-Karavani V, Yu H, Cao H, Chokhawala H, Karp F, Varki N, Chen X, Varki A. Diversity in specificity, abundance, and composition of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in normal humans: potential implications for disease. Glycobiology 2008; 18:818-30. [PMID: 18669916 DOI: 10.1093/glycob/cwn072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 242] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Human heterophile antibodies that agglutinate animal erythrocytes are known to detect the nonhuman sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). This monosaccharide cannot by itself fill the binding site (paratope) of an antibody and can also be modified and presented in various linkages, on diverse underlying glycans. Thus, we hypothesized that the human anti-Neu5Gc antibody response is diverse and polyclonal. Here, we use a novel set of natural and chemoenzymatically synthesized glycans to show that normal humans have an abundant and diverse spectrum of such anti-Neu5Gc antibodies, directed against a variety of Neu5Gc-containing epitopes. High sensitivity and specificity assays were achieved by using N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac)-containing probes (differing from Neu5Gc by one less oxygen atom) as optimal background controls. The commonest anti-Neu5Gc antibodies are of the IgG class. Moreover, the range of reactivity and Ig classes of antibodies vary greatly amongst normal humans, with some individuals having remarkably large amounts, even surpassing levels of some well-known natural blood group and xenoreactive antibodies. We purified these anti-Neu5Gc antibodies from individual human sera using a newly developed affinity method and showed that they bind to wild-type but not Neu5Gc-deficient mouse tissues. Moreover, they bind back to human carcinomas that have accumulated Neu5Gc in vivo. As dietary Neu5Gc is primarily found in red meat and milk products, we suggest that this ongoing antigen-antibody reaction may generate chronic inflammation, possibly contributing to the high frequency of diet-related carcinomas and other diseases in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vered Padler-Karavani
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center and Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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The "reverse capture" autoantibody microarray : an innovative approach to profiling the autoantibody response to tissue-derived native antigens. Methods Mol Biol 2008; 441:175-92. [PMID: 18370319 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-60327-047-2_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Recently, we reported the development and use of a "reverse capture" antibody microarray for the purpose of investigating antigen-autoantibody profiling. This platform was developed to allow researchers to characterize and compare the autoantibody profiles of normal and diseased patients. Our "reverse capture" protocol is based on the dual-antibody sandwich immunoassay of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and we have previously reported its use to detect autoimmunity to epitopes found on native antigens derived from tumor cell lines. In this protocol, we used ovarian cancer as a model system to adapt the "reverse capture" procedure for use with native antigens derived from frozen tissue samples. The use of this platform in studies of autoimmunity is valuable because it allows for the detection of autoantibody reactivity with epitopes found on the post-translational modifications (PTMs) of native antigens, a feature not present with other protein array platforms. In the first step in the "reverse capture" process, tissue-derived native antigens are immobilized onto the 500 monoclonal antibodies that are spotted in duplicate on the array surface. Using the captured antigens as "baits," we then incubate the array with labeled IgG from test and control samples, and perform a two-slide dye-swap to account for any dye effects. Here, we present a detailed description of the "reverse capture" autoantibody microarray for use with tissue-derived native antigens.
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Chiarella P, Vulcano M, Bruzzo J, Vermeulen M, Vanzulli S, Maglioco A, Camerano G, Palacios V, Fernández G, Brando RF, Isturiz MA, Dran GI, Bustuoabad OD, Ruggiero RA. Anti-inflammatory pretreatment enables an efficient dendritic cell-based immunotherapy against established tumors. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2008; 57:701-18. [PMID: 17962945 PMCID: PMC11030084 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-007-0410-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2007] [Accepted: 09/19/2007] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Although animals can be immunized against the growth of some tumor implants, most of the attempts to use immunotherapy to cause the regression of animal and human tumors once they have become established have been disappointing even when strongly immunogenic tumors were used as target. In this paper, we demonstrate that the failure to achieve an efficient immunological treatment against an established strongly immunogenic murine fibrosarcoma was paralleled with the emergence of a state of immunological unresponsiveness (immunological eclipse) against tumor antigens observed when the tumor surpassed the critical size of 500 mm(3). In turn, the onset of the immunological eclipse was coincidental with the onset of a systemic inflammatory condition characterized by a high number of circulating and splenic polymorphonucleated neutrophils (PMN) displaying activation and Gr1(+)Mac1(+) phenotype and an increasing serum concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum A amyloid (SAA) phase acute proteins. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with a single low dose (0.75 mg/kg) of the synthetic corticoid dexamethasone (DX) significantly reduced all the systemic inflammatory parameters and simultaneously reversed the immunological eclipse, as evidenced by the restoration of specific T-cell-dependent concomitant immunity, ability of spleen cells to transfer anti-tumor activity and recovery of T-cell signal transduction molecules. Two other anti-inflammatory treatments by using indomethacin or dimeric TNF-alpha receptor, also partially reversed the immunological eclipse although the effect was not as striking as that observed with DX. The reversion of the immunological eclipse was not enough on its own to inhibit the primary growing tumor. However, when we used the two-step strategy of inoculating DX to reverse the eclipse and then dendritic cells loaded with tumor antigens (DC) as an immunization booster, a significant inhibition of the growth of both established tumors and remnant tumor cells after excision of large established tumors was observed, despite the fact that the vaccination alone (DC) had no effect or even enhanced tumor growth in certain circumstances. The two-step strategy of tumor immunotherapy that we present is based on the rationale that it is necessary to eliminate or ameliorate the immunological eclipse as a precondition to allow an otherwise ineffective anti-tumor immunological therapy to have a chance to be successful.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Chiarella
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marisa Vulcano
- División Inmunología, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Present Address: Research Laboratory in Immunology and Inflammation, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
| | - Juan Bruzzo
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mónica Vermeulen
- División Inmunología Oncológica, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas (IIHEMA), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Silvia Vanzulli
- Instituto de Estudios Oncológicos (IEO), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andrea Maglioco
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Camerano
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Víctor Palacios
- Centro de Estudio y Tratamiento Oncológico (CETRO), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Fernández
- División Inmunología, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Romina Fernández Brando
- División Inmunología, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martín A. Isturiz
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
- División Inmunología, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Graciela I. Dran
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Oscar D. Bustuoabad
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Raúl A. Ruggiero
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Chiarella P, Reffo V, Bruzzo J, Bustuoabad OD, Ruggiero RA. Therapeutic anti-tumor vaccines: from tumor inhibition to enhancement. Clin Med Oncol 2008; 2:237-45. [PMID: 21892285 PMCID: PMC3161645 DOI: 10.4137/cmo.s538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Numerous immunization trials have proved successful in preventing the growth of experimental animal tumors and human hepatocarcinomas induced by hepatitis B virus. These results have prompted researchers and physicians to use vaccines in a therapeutic mode but the results have, in general, been disappointing even when strongly immunogenic murine tumors were concerned. Data presented herein suggest that immunotherapy induced by a single dose of a dendritic cell-based vaccine against a murine established tumor or against residual tumor cells after debulking the primary tumor, can render not only inhibitory or null but also stimulatory effects on tumor growth. These different effects might be dependent on where the system is located in the immune response curve that relates the quantity of the immune response to the quantity of target tumor cells. We suggest that high ratios render tumor inhibition, medium and very low ratios render null effects and low ratios-between medium and very low ones-render tumor stimulation. Since the magnitude of these ratios would depend on the antigenic profile of the tumor, the immunogenic strength of the vaccine used and the immunological state of the host, studies aimed to determine the magnitude of these variables in each particular case, seem to be necessary as a pre-condition to design rational immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer. In contrast, if these studies are neglected, the worst thing that an immunotherapist could face is not merely a null effect but enhancement of tumor growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Chiarella
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX-CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Verónica Reffo
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX-CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Juan Bruzzo
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX-CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Oscar D. Bustuoabad
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX-CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Raúl A. Ruggiero
- División Medicina Experimental (ILEX-CONICET), Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Prehn RT. Does the immune reaction cause malignant transformation by disrupting cell-to-cell or cell-to-matrix communications? Theor Biol Med Model 2007; 4:16. [PMID: 17480231 PMCID: PMC1871575 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4682-4-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2007] [Accepted: 05/04/2007] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor progression In many (perhaps in all) tumor systems, a malignant cancer is preceded by a benign lesion. Most benign lesions do not transform to malignancy and many regress. The final transformative step to malignancy differs from the preceding steps in, among other things, that it often occurs in the absence of the original carcinogenic stimulus. Mechanism of immunostimulation Relatively low titers of specific immune reactants are known to stimulate, but cell-to-cell or cell-to-matrix interactions appear to be major inhibitors of tumor-growth. Therefore, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that the mechanism of immunostimulation may be an interference with cell-to-cell or cell-to-matrix communication by a sub-lethal immune-reaction. Discussion While the above hypothesis remains unproven, some evidence suggests that immunity may have a major facilitating effect on tumor growth especially at the time of malignant transformation. There is even some evidence suggesting that transformation in vivo may seldom occur in the absence of immunostimulation of the premalignant lesion. Positive selection by the immune reaction may be the reason that tumors are immunogenic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richmond T Prehn
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98118, USA.
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Prehn RT. Immunostimulation and immunoinhibition of premalignant lesions. Theor Biol Med Model 2007; 4:6. [PMID: 17280618 PMCID: PMC1797005 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4682-4-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2006] [Accepted: 02/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The immune reaction may be either stimulatory or inhibitory to tumor growth, depending upon the local ratio of immune reactants to tumor cells. Hypothesis A tumor-stimulatory immune response may be essential for survival of a neoplasm in vivo and for the biological progression from a premalignant lesion to a malignancy. Neither a positive nor a negative correlation between the magnitude of an immune-cell infiltrate and a cancer's prognosis can reveal whether the infiltrate was stimulating or inhibiting to the tumor's growth unless the position on the nonlinear curve that relates tumor growth to the magnitude of the immune reaction is known. Discussion This hypothesis is discussed in relation to the development of human malignant melanomas and colorectal cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richmond T Prehn
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98118, USA.
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Agutter PS. Cell mechanics and stress: from molecular details to the ‘universal cell reaction’ and hormesis. Bioessays 2007; 29:324-33. [PMID: 17373655 DOI: 10.1002/bies.20550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The 'universal cell reaction' (UCR), a coordinated biphasic response to external (noxious and other) stimuli observed in all living cells, was described by Nasonov and his colleagues in the mid-20th century. This work has received no attention from cell biologists in the West, but the UCR merits serious consideration. Although it is non-specific, it is likely to be underpinned by precise mechanisms and, if these mechanisms were characterized and their relationship to the UCR elucidated, then our understanding of the integration of cellular function could be improved. As a step towards identifying such mechanisms, I review some recent advances in understanding cell mechanics and the stress response and I suggest potentially testable hypotheses. There is a particular need for time-course studies of cellular responses to different stimulus doses or intensities. I also suggest a correspondence with hormesis; re-investigation of the UCR using modern biophysical and molecular-biological techniques might throw light on this much-discussed phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul S Agutter
- Theoretical and Cell Biology Consultancy, 26 Castle Hill, Glossop, Derbyshire, SK13 7RR, UK.
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18
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Abstract
For over a century, mouse mammary tumor biology and the associated Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) have served as the foundation for experimental cancer research, in general, and, in particular, experimental breast cancer research. Spontaneous mouse mammary tumors were the basis for studies of the natural history of neoplasia, oncogenic viruses, host responses, endocrinology, and neoplastic progression. However, lacking formal proof of a human mammary tumor virus, the preeminence of the mouse model faded in the 1980s. Since the late 1980s, genetically engineered mice (GEM) have proven extremely useful for studying breast cancer and have become the animal model for human breast cancer. Hundreds of mouse models of human breast cancer have been developed since the first demonstration, in 1984, that the mouse mammary gland could be molecularly targeted and used to test the oncogenicity of candidate human genes. Now, very few scientists can avoid using a mouse model to test the biology of their favorite gene. The GEM have attracted a new generation of molecular and cellular biologists eager to apply their skills to these surrogates of the human disease. Newcomers often enter the field without an appreciation of the origins of mouse mammary tumor biology and the basis for many of the prevailing concepts. Our purpose in writing this short history of mouse mammary tumor biology is to provide a historical perspective for the benefit of the newcomers. If Einstein was correct in that "we stand on the shoulders of giants," the neophytes should meet their giants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert D Cardiff
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
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Ruggiero RA, Bustuoabad OD. The biological sense of cancer: a hypothesis. Theor Biol Med Model 2006; 3:43. [PMID: 17173673 PMCID: PMC1764731 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4682-3-43] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2006] [Accepted: 12/15/2006] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most theories about cancer proposed during the last century share a common denominator: cancer is believed to be a biological nonsense for the organism in which it originates, since cancer cells are believed to be ones evading the rules that control normal cell proliferation and differentiation. In this essay, we have challenged this interpretation on the basis that, throughout the animal kingdom, cancer seems to arise only in injured organs and tissues that display lost or diminished regenerative ability. HYPOTHESIS According to our hypothesis, a tumor cell would be the only one able to respond to the demand to proliferate in the organ of origin. It would be surrounded by "normal" aged cells that cannot respond to that signal. According to this interpretation, cancer would have a profound biological sense: it would be the ultimate way to attempt to restore organ functions and structures that have been lost or altered by aging or noxious environmental agents. In this way, the features commonly associated with tumor cells could be reinterpreted as progressively acquired adaptations for responding to a permanent regenerative signal in the context of tissue injury. Analogously, several embryo developmental stages could be dependent on cellular damage and death, which together disrupt the field topography. However, unlike normal structures, cancer would have no physiological value, because the usually poor or non-functional nature of its cells would make their reparative task unattainable. CONCLUSION The hypothesis advanced in this essay might have significant practical implications. All conventional therapies against cancer attempt to kill all cancer cells. However, according to our hypothesis, the problem might not be solved even if all the tumor cells were eradicated. In effect, if the organ failure remained, new tumor cells would emerge and the tumor would reinitiate its progressive growth in response to the permanent regenerative signal of the non-restored organ. Therefore, efficient anti-cancer therapy should combine an attack against the tumor cells themselves with the correction of the organ failure, which, according to this hypothesis, is fundamental to the origin of the cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raúl A Ruggiero
- División Medicina Experimental, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Oscar D Bustuoabad
- División Medicina Experimental, Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Prehn RT. The paradoxical effects of splenectomy on tumor growth. Theor Biol Med Model 2006; 3:23. [PMID: 16800890 PMCID: PMC1538594 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4682-3-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2006] [Accepted: 06/26/2006] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background There is a vast and contradictory literature concerning the effect of the spleen and particularly of splenectomy on tumor growth. Sometimes splenectomy seems to inhibit tumor growth, but in other cases it seems, paradoxically, to facilitate both oncogenesis and the growth of established tumors. Approach In this essay I have selected from this large literature a few papers that seem particularly instructive, in the hope of extracting some understanding of the rules governing this paradoxical behavior. Conclusion In general, whether splenectomy enhances or inhibits tumor growth seems to depend primarily upon the ratio of spleen to tumor. Small proportions of spleen cells usually stimulate tumor growth, in which case splenectomy is inhibitory. Larger proportions of the same cells, especially if they are from immunized animals, usually inhibit tumor growth, in which case splenectomy results in tumor stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richmond T Prehn
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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