Abstract Successful treatment of cancer patients with a combination of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and chemotherapeutic drugs has spawned
various other forms of additional combination therapies, including vaccines or adoptive lymphocyte transfer combined with
chemotherapeutics. These therapies were effective against established tumors in animal models and showed promising results
in initial clinical trials in cancer patients, awaiting testing in larger randomized controlled studies. Although combination
between immunotherapy and chemotherapy has long been viewed as incompatible as chemotherapy, especially in high doses meant
to increase anti-tumor efficacy, has induced immunosuppression, various mechanisms may explain the reported synergistic effects
of the two types of therapies. Thus direct effects of chemotherapy on tumor or host environment, such as induction of tumor
cell death, elimination of regulatory T cells, and/or enhancement of tumor cell sensitivity to lysis by CTL may account for
enhancement of immunotherapy by chemotherapy. Furthermore, induction of lymphopenia by chemotherapy has increased the efficacy
of adoptive lymphocyte transfer in cancer patients. On the other hand, immunotherapy may directly modulate the tumor?s sensitivity
to chemotherapy. Thus, anti-tumor mAb can increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and patients treated
first with immunotherapy followed by chemotherapy showed higher clinical response rates than patients that had received chemotherapy
alone. In conclusion, combination of active specific immunotherapy or adoptive mAb or lymphocyte immunotherapy with chemotherapy
has great potential for the treatment of cancer patients which needs to be confirmed in larger controlled and randomized Phase
III trials.
Content Type Journal ArticleCategory ReviewDOI 10.1007/s00262-008-0598-yAuthors
Tianqian Zhang, The Wistar Institute 3601 Spruce Street Philadelphia PA 19104 USADorothee Herlyn, The Wistar Institute 3601 Spruce Street Philadelphia PA 19104 USA
Journal Cancer Immunology, ImmunotherapyOnline ISSN 1432-0851Print ISSN 0340-7004 (Source: Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy)
Original source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h224567h60661522/
