IMMUNOTHERAPY OF MELANOMA WITH DENDRITIC CELL VACCINES

黑色素瘤是一种皮肤癌，在澳大利亚发病率持续上升。它是发病和死亡的重要原因，因为它倾向于从皮肤扩散到身体其他部位。它在很大程度上对化疗有抵抗力。免疫方法治疗有希望，但需要开发更有效的疫苗来协助治疗。初步研究表明，注射用黑色素瘤抗原引发的树突状细胞诱导强烈的免疫应答和黑色素瘤消退。如果这一点得到证实，将代表该疾病治疗的重大进展。该提案中的研究旨在调查一种基于用肿瘤抗原致敏的树突状细胞免疫的新形式的治疗是否会被证明比现有的治疗更有效。树突状细胞负责刺激免疫反应，并从患者的血液中生长。然后用肿瘤抗原使它们致敏，并注射到患者的淋巴结中。该研究还将测量免疫程序期间的免疫应答，并评估这些措施是否可以预测患者的临床应答。如果这项研究在其目标上取得成功，它将有助于开发更有效的黑色素瘤治疗方法。

Melanoma is a skin cancer which continues to increase in incidence in Australia. It is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality because of its tendency to spread from skin to other body sites. It is largely resistant to chemotherapy. Immunological approaches to its treatment hold promise but there is a need to develop more effective vaccines to assist in treatment. Preliminary studies suggest that injection of dendritic cells primed with melanoma antigens induce strong immune responses and regression of melanoma. If this can be confirmed it will represent a significant advance in treatment of the disease. The studies in the proposal are to investigate whether a new form of treatment based on immunisation with dendritic cells sensitised with tumour antigens will prove to be more effective than existing treatments. Dendritic cells are responsible for stimulating immune responses and are grown from the patient's blood. They are then sensitised with tumour antigens and injected into the lymph nodes of the patient. The study will also measure immune responses during the immunisation procedure and assess whether these measures can predict clinical responses in the patient. If the study is successful in its objectives it will assist in development of more effective treatment of melanoma.