Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Generation of a Novel Dendritic-cell Vaccine Using Melanoma and Squamous Cancer Stem Cells
Published on: January 6, 2014
Cancer vaccination: manipulation of immune responses at old age
Claudia Gravekamp1, Sun Hee Kim, Francisco Castro
1California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. gravekc@cpmcri.org
Abstract:
The incidence of cancer has increased over the last decade, mainly due to an increase in the elderly population. Vaccine therapy for cancer is less toxic than chemotherapy or radiation and could be, therefore, especially effective in older, more frail cancer patients. However, it has been shown that older individuals do not respond to vaccine therapy as well as younger adults. This has been attributed to T-cell unresponsiveness, a phenomenon also observed in cancer patients per se. This review summarizes the current knowledge of impaired T-cell responses in cancer patients and the elderly, and the results of cancer vaccination in preclinical models at young and old age. Finally, various approaches how to manipulate immune responses against cancer by vaccination at older age will be proposed.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Vaccines
Cancer vaccines come in two categories: preventive (prophylactic) and treatment (active). Preventive vaccines, such as the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, protect against viruses that cause certain...
Tumor Immunotherapy
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Vaccinations
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers

