Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy represents the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved gene therapy and these engineered cells function with unprecedented efficacy in the treatment of refractory CD19 positive hematologic malignancies. CAR translation to solid tumors is also being actively investigated; however, efficacy to date has been variable due to tumor-evolved mech...

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the standard treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, safety and efficacy of ICIs in severe NSCLC poor performance status (PS) are still unclear.

BACKGROUND The effect of chemotherapy combined with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) on the immune state of the tumor environment remains unclear and controversial. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of chemotherapy combined with cetuximab (C225, an anti-EGFR mAb) on the immune state of tumor environment, and the correlation of that effect and the clinical efficacy. METHODS Twelve pat...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigens presenting cells in the immune system. They have a high capacity to trigger antigen-specific immune responses and promote both adaptive immunity and innate immunity. In the past decade, DC vaccine has been introduced as a new therapeutic strategy in cancer patients. DC-based immunotherapy is safe and can promote antitumor immune responses and p...

Modulation of the immune system as an approach to attack cancer has been explored for the past 50 years. Efficacy of this treatment has been achieved in a limited number of patients. However, a major obstacle of immune therapy is the toxicity related to the nonspecific nature of immune activation. Efforts to improve the specificity of the immune response have been investigated through the use o...

Recent clinical trials revealed the impressive efficacy of immunological checkpoint blockade in different types of metastatic cancers. Such data underscore that immunotherapy is one of the most promising strategies for cancer treatment. In addition, preclinical studies provide evidence that some cytotoxic drugs have the ability to stimulate the immune system, resulting in anti-tumor immune resp...

Previous studies have shown that successful adoptive immunotherapy of a newly induced, weakly immunogenic murine sarcoma, MCA 105, can be achieved either with fresh noncultured immune spleen cells or with immune cells after in vitro stimulation and expansion. In this study, we utilized in vivo and in vitro depletions with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) of T-cell subpopulations expressing the L3T4 ...

The clinical efficacy of most therapeutic vaccines against cancer has not yet met its promise. Data are emerging that strongly support the notion that combining immunotherapy with conventional therapies, for example, radiation and chemotherapy may improve efficacy. In particular combination with chemotherapy may lead to improved clinical efficacy by clearing suppressor cells, reboot of the immu...

The HIV vaccines tested in the halted Step efficacy trial and the modestly successful phase 3 RV144 trial were designed to elicit strong systemic immune responses; therefore, strategies to direct immune responses into mucosal sites should be tested in an effort to improve AIDS vaccine efficacy. However, as increased CD4(+) T-cell activation and recruitment to mucosal sites have the potential to...

Malnutrition, anaemia, and gut parasites are commonly interrelated. Using the Nippostrongylus brasiliensis-rat model, the effect of iron and protein deficiency on the efficacy of benzimidazole anthelmintics was studied. It was demonstrated that the anthelmintics mebendazole and fenbendazole were significantly less effective in eradicating parasites when animals were deficient in iron and protei...