Inject locally, treat globally. That’s the gist of a new cancer immunotherapy strategy called in situ vaccination. It has three steps: (1) Deliver immunoenhancing agents to a tumor site. (2) Trigger an immune response among “prescreened” T cells, that is, T cells that have already shown that they can infiltrate the tumor. (3) Watch the T cells attack cancer throughout the body. In situ vaccination was developed by Stanford University scientists who believe that their approach, which involves local application of tiny amounts of immunoenhancing agents, could serve as a rapid and relatively inexpensive cancer therapy. These agents? An innate immune system activator called CpG, and a stimulatory antibody called anti-OX40. The scientists, led by oncologist Ronald Levy, M.D., also emphasize that their approach is unlikely to cause the adverse side effects often seen with body-wide immune stimulation. "When we use these two agents together, ...
Original Article: Local Immunotherapy Shrinks Tumors Near and Far
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