Modification of T lymphocytes to express tumor antigens

Human T cells can be genetically modified to express tumor-associated antigens (TAA) for the induction of tumor-specific immunity, suggesting that T cells may be alternative candidates of effective antigen-presenting cells (TAPC) and may be useful in vivo as cellular cancer vaccines. The effective induction of TAA-specific T cell immune responses requires activation of T cells by CD3/CD28 antibodies and the presence of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-7 (IL-7) and interleukin-12 (IL-12). Here, we describe the technique of preparing activated human TAPC pulsed with TAA peptides for the induction of tumor antigen-specific T cell immunity in vitro.