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Immunotherapy in preneoplastic disease: targeting early procarcinogenic inflammatory changes that lead to immune

Bridget Keenan1, Elizabeth M Jaffee

  • 1The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|May 9, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Early intervention with cancer vaccines during preneoplastic disease is crucial. Targeting procarcinogenic inflammation can enhance vaccine efficacy and prevent cancer development.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology and Cancer Biology

Background:

  • Immunotherapy, including cancer vaccines, shows promise in primary prevention and treating existing cancer.
  • Tumor-induced immune suppression and tolerance are major obstacles to successful cancer immunotherapy.
  • Preneoplastic disease offers a critical window for intervention before immune evasion becomes dominant.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the potential of targeting early procarcinogenic inflammatory changes in cancer development.
  • To explore strategies for enhancing cancer vaccine efficacy by addressing tumor microenvironment inhibitory signals.
  • To identify clinical applications for preventing premalignant and early invasive cancers.

Main Methods:

  • Review of emerging evidence on early inflammatory changes in cancer progression.
  • Analysis of mechanisms of immune suppression and tolerance in tumor development.
  • Discussion of insights for clinical targeting of early inhibitory signals.

Main Results:

  • Procarcinogenic inflammatory changes are observed early in cancer development in patients and mouse models.
  • Defining early inhibitory signals in tumor microenvironments is key to therapeutic development.
  • Combined strategies of targeting inflammation and using cancer vaccines may prevent early cancers.

Conclusions:

  • Intervening during preneoplastic stages with targeted vaccines is a promising strategy.
  • Addressing early procarcinogenic inflammation is essential for overcoming immune evasion.
  • Future clinical treatments should combine cancer vaccines with therapies targeting early inhibitory signals to prevent cancer.

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