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。它是发病率和死亡率的重要原因，因为它有从皮肤扩散到身体其他部位的趋势。它对化疗有很大的抗药性。免疫治疗方法有希望，但需要开发更有效的疫苗来协助治疗。初步研究表明，注射带有黑色素瘤抗原的树突状细胞可诱导强烈的免疫反应和黑色素瘤的消退。如果这一发现得到证实，将代表着该疾病治疗的重大进展。提案中的研究是为了调查一种基于对肿瘤抗原敏感的树突状细胞免疫的新治疗形式是否会比现有的治疗方法更有效。树突状细胞负责刺激免疫反应，是从病人的血液中生长出来的。然后它们被肿瘤抗原致敏并注射到患者的淋巴结中。该研究还将测量免疫接种过程中的免疫反应，并评估这些测量是否可以预测患者的临床反应。如果这项研究达到了预期目标，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.