Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) causes a systemic infection in mice with virus replication occurring in both peripheral tissues and secondary lymphoid organs. Because of the rapid systemic dissemination of the virus, the secondary lymphoid organs responsible for the induction of the LCMV-specific CD8 T cell response are poorly defined. We show that the mediastinal lymph node (MedLN) s...

BACKGROUND Future cancer immunotherapies will combine multiple treatments to generate functional immune responses to cancer antigens through synergistic, multi-modal mechanisms. In this study we explored the combination of three distinct immunotherapies: a class I restricted peptide-based cancer vaccine, metronomic cyclophosphamide (mCPA) and anti-PD-1 treatment in a murine tumor model expressi...

CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Treg) are thought to suppress the natural and vaccine-induced immune response against tumor-associated antigens (TAA). Here, we show that Treg accumulate in tumors and tumor-draining lymph nodes of aging transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) male mice, which spontaneously develop prostate cancer. TAA overexpression and disease progress...

Dissemination to draining lymph nodes is a frequent first step in prostate cancer metastasis. Although tumors metastasize to lymph nodes via the lymphatics, the importance of lymphangiogenesis in mediating the process remains controversial. Here, we inhibit intratumoral lymphangiogenesis in s.c. and surgical orthotopic implantation mouse models of human prostate cancer using several strategies....

Introduction: The surgical management of lateral lymph nodes in differentiated thyroid carcinoma is controversies. Therefore, we analyzed whether sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) biopsy of the first draining nodes in the jugulo-carotid chain is an accurate technique to select patients with true-positive but nonpalpable lymph nodes for selective lateral node dissection. Materials and Methods: From Jan...

The development of effective cancer vaccines remains an urgent, but as yet unmet, clinical need. This deficiency is in part due to an incomplete understanding of how to best invoke dendritic cells (DC) that are crucial for the induction of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells capable of mediating durable protective immunity. In this regard, elevated expression of the transcription factor X box-binding...

Dissemination to draining lymph nodes is a frequent first step in prostate cancer metastasis. Although tumors metastasize to lymph nodes via the lymphatics, the importance of lymphangiogenesis in mediating the process remains controversial. Here, we inhibit intratumoral lymphangiogenesis in s.c. and surgical orthotopic implantation mouse models of human prostate cancer using several strategies....

Whether liver metastases from colon cancer are capable of metastasizing to other sites is an important question in surgical oncology. To answer this question, we have developed a highly metastatic orthotopic transplant model of a liver metastasis from a human colon cancer patient in nude mice that targets the liver and lymph nodes. The metastatic human tumor was transplanted in athymic nude mic...

Dendritic cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy employs several ways to engage tumor antigens. We have demonstrated in both pre-clinical animal studies and early clinical trials that dendritomas, highly purified hybrids between dendritic cells (DC) and tumor cells, are superior activators of anti-tumor immunity. It has been argued, however, that DC vaccines may be dysfunctional in lymph node migra...