Depletion of human regulatory T cells

Regulatory T cells (Treg) have become increasingly relevant in the study of human disease including cancer. Treg cells have been shown to inhibit anti-tumor immune responses, and elevated Treg levels have been associated with certain types of cancer. Similarly, depletion of Tregs by various methods can also enhance anti-tumor immune responses. We have found a prevalence of Treg in cancer patients when compared to normal volunteers. In addition, we have shown that the depletion of Treg using the IL-2 fusion protein denileukin diftitox decreased Treg function and increased antigen-specific T cell response to a cancer vaccine. These results indicate the potential for combining Treg depletion with anti-cancer vaccines to enhance tumor antigen-specific immune responses and the need to explore the dose and schedule of Treg depletion strategies in optimizing vaccine efforts.