Immunoprevention of Non-infectious Tumors
Is it possible to devise immunopreventive strategies for tumors not caused by infectious agents? The challenge is to predict in each individual the risk of specific cancer types and to design immune strategies targeting these cancer types. This is not yet feasible in humans, thus immunoprevention of non-infectious tumors is at a preclinical stage of development.
Effective immunoprevention of various types of cancer was obtained in murine models of cancer risk, in particular in transgenic mice harboring activated oncogenes, thus demonstrating that activation of the immune system in healthy hosts can indeed prevent carcinogenesis. Both non-specific immune stimuli, like cytokines and other immunostimulators, and vaccines containing a specific antigen were active in mouse models; combinations of both types of agents yielded the best results, up to an almost complete, long-term block of carcinogenesis in models of aggressive cancer development.
Read more about this topic: Cancer Immunoprevention