Abstract
Human tumour immunology is at a standstill whereas implemented cancer vaccines have shown effectiveness in inducing immune responses detectable in circulating lymphocytes. In most circumstances, however, such immune responses are not sufficient to induce cancer regression. This paradoxical observation could be explained in several ways depending upon the immunological endpoint used for immune monitoring. For instance, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes that address the presence of T cells bearing T-cell receptors specific for the epitope used for vaccination, can accurately enumerate the number of T cells elicited by the vaccines but does not yield information about their functional status. Other monitoring strategies may yield general information about the reactivity of various T cells in response to a relevant stimulus and, therefore, may provide information more relevant to the purpose of the immunisation. Furthermore, the material used to monitor immune responses may, in itself, determine the significance of the findings obtained. In the assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of specific cancer treatment, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes (systemic response) may not be as relevant as the analysis of the same effector populations within the tumour microenvironment (peripheral response). This review will describe a novel approach that allows extreme flexibility in the analysis of systemic and peripheral responses by accurately measuring the level of expression of relevant genes using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 557-564 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- β-actin
- CD8
- Cytomegalovirus
- Epstein-Barr virus
- Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)
- Hepatitis B virus load
- House-keeping gene
- IFN-γ
- mRNA expression
- Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR)
- Systemic response
- Tumour antigen
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Genetics
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
Cite this
The role of quantitative PCR for the immune monitoring of cancer patients. / Panelli, Monica C.; Wang, Ena; Monsurro, Vladia; Marincola, Francesco M.
In: Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2002, p. 557-564.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of quantitative PCR for the immune monitoring of cancer patients
AU - Panelli, Monica C.
AU - Wang, Ena
AU - Monsurro, Vladia
AU - Marincola, Francesco M.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Human tumour immunology is at a standstill whereas implemented cancer vaccines have shown effectiveness in inducing immune responses detectable in circulating lymphocytes. In most circumstances, however, such immune responses are not sufficient to induce cancer regression. This paradoxical observation could be explained in several ways depending upon the immunological endpoint used for immune monitoring. For instance, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes that address the presence of T cells bearing T-cell receptors specific for the epitope used for vaccination, can accurately enumerate the number of T cells elicited by the vaccines but does not yield information about their functional status. Other monitoring strategies may yield general information about the reactivity of various T cells in response to a relevant stimulus and, therefore, may provide information more relevant to the purpose of the immunisation. Furthermore, the material used to monitor immune responses may, in itself, determine the significance of the findings obtained. In the assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of specific cancer treatment, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes (systemic response) may not be as relevant as the analysis of the same effector populations within the tumour microenvironment (peripheral response). This review will describe a novel approach that allows extreme flexibility in the analysis of systemic and peripheral responses by accurately measuring the level of expression of relevant genes using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
AB - Human tumour immunology is at a standstill whereas implemented cancer vaccines have shown effectiveness in inducing immune responses detectable in circulating lymphocytes. In most circumstances, however, such immune responses are not sufficient to induce cancer regression. This paradoxical observation could be explained in several ways depending upon the immunological endpoint used for immune monitoring. For instance, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes that address the presence of T cells bearing T-cell receptors specific for the epitope used for vaccination, can accurately enumerate the number of T cells elicited by the vaccines but does not yield information about their functional status. Other monitoring strategies may yield general information about the reactivity of various T cells in response to a relevant stimulus and, therefore, may provide information more relevant to the purpose of the immunisation. Furthermore, the material used to monitor immune responses may, in itself, determine the significance of the findings obtained. In the assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of specific cancer treatment, analysis of immune responses in circulating lymphocytes (systemic response) may not be as relevant as the analysis of the same effector populations within the tumour microenvironment (peripheral response). This review will describe a novel approach that allows extreme flexibility in the analysis of systemic and peripheral responses by accurately measuring the level of expression of relevant genes using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
KW - β-actin
KW - CD8
KW - Cytomegalovirus
KW - Epstein-Barr virus
KW - Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)
KW - Hepatitis B virus load
KW - House-keeping gene
KW - IFN-γ
KW - mRNA expression
KW - Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR)
KW - Systemic response
KW - Tumour antigen
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035987416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0035987416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1517/14712598.2.5.557
DO - 10.1517/14712598.2.5.557
M3 - Review article
VL - 2
SP - 557
EP - 564
JO - Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy
JF - Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy
SN - 1471-2598
IS - 5
ER -