The immunological response and post-treatment survival of DC-vaccinated melanoma patients are associated with increased Th1/Th17 and reduced Th3 cytokine responses

Abstract

Introduction: Immunization with autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with a heat shock-conditioned allogeneic melanoma cell lysate caused lysate-specific delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions in a number of patients. These responses correlated with a threefold prolonged long-term survival of DTH+ with respect to DTH- unresponsive patients. Herein, we investigated whether the immunological reactions associated with prolonged survival were related to dissimilar cellular and cytokine responses in blood. Materials and methods: Healthy donors and melanoma patient's lymphocytes obtained from blood before and after vaccinations and from DTH biopsies were analyzed for T cell population di..