An inflammatory vaccine

Researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have taken a new approach to DNA cancer vaccines: damaging host tissue to induce an inflammatory response and greater immune recognition of the antigen.¹ The team hopes its modified idiotype-based vaccine plus an inflammation-inducing myotoxin adjuvant can overcome the poor efficacy of most previously tested DNA vaccines-a clinical trial is already in the planning.

Idiotypes are DNA sequences coding for unique portions of the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of the immunoglobulins expressed on the surface of B cells. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute have idiotype vaccines in Phase II testing to treat lymphoma.²...