The Open Cancer Immunology Journal

2010, 3 : 41-47
Published online 2010 December 31. DOI: 10.2174/1876401001003010041
Publisher ID: TOCIJ-3-41

Tumor-DNA Based Vaccines Fail to Induce Autoimmune Disease in Mice

InSug O-Sullivan , Terry Lichtor , Roberta Glick and Edward P. Cohen
Department of Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, University of Illinois College of Medicine, 612 CMW (MC/ 640), Chicago, IL 60612, USA

ABSTRACT

Allogeneic cellular cancer vaccines that express tumor antigens specified by tumor-DNA have been found to be effective in the treatment of mice with intracerebral breast cancer, a metastasis model system. The vaccines were prepared by the transfer of genomic DNA from a spontaneously arising adenocarcinoma of the mammary gland into a mouse fibroblast cell line (LM). The immunity in tumor-bearing mice treated by immunization with the DNA-based vaccines was specific for the type of tumor from which the DNA was obtained. It was driven mainly by CD8+ T-cells. Here, we present data indicating that animals receiving the therapeutic vaccines failed to exhibit signs of autoimmunity, as indicated by an examination of various H/E stained organs and tissues including brain for infiltrating inflammatory cells and by the absence of serum anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) in the immunized mice. In addition, tumors derived from the vaccine itself failed to develop in immune-competent tumor-free mice injected with the non-irradiated allogeneic vaccines alone.

Keywords:

Immunotherapy, metastasis, breast cancer, autoimmunity.