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Advances in the Use of Dendritic Cells and New Adjuvants for the Development of Therapeutic Vaccines

Laboratory of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Key Words. Immunotherapy • Cancer • Infectious diseases • Dendritic cells • Adjuvants

Filippo Belardelli, Ph.D., Laboratory of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Telephone: 39-06-4990-3290; Fax: 39-06-4990-2097; e-mail: belard{at}iss.it

The recent advances in immunology and biotechnology have opened new perspectives for the development of immunotherapy strategies against cancer and infectious diseases. The understanding of the pivotal role of dendritic cells in the initiation and regulation of the immune response has led to an ensemble of preclinical studies and pilot clinical trials, which have provided some evidence on the potential advantages of using dendritic cells as cellular adjuvants for the development of therapeutic vaccines against infectious diseases and malignancies. Current research efforts are focused on the definition of optimal protocols for dendritic cell-based therapies in patients. An additional area of emerging importance in the field of immunotherapy is the identification of safe, selective, and more powerful adjuvants, capable not only of enhancing immune protection against pathogens, but also of breaking tolerance against certain tumor-associated antigens, which is the critical issue for the development of cancer vaccines. The recent recognition of the key role of certain cytokines, such as type I interferons, in linking the innate and adaptive immunity through their action on dendritic cells opens new perspectives for using these natural factors as adjuvants for the development of therapeutic vaccines. We review some of the emerging research aspects in immunotherapy, with special attention to the perspectives of using new adjuvants and dendritic cell-based vaccines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.