Health / Medical Topics |
Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell/hTERT/Survivin mRNAs-loaded Autologous Dendritic Cell Vaccine
A cancer vaccine containing autologous dendritic cells (DCs) that are transfected with mRNAs extracted from amplified ovarian cancer stem cells, and mRNAs of the universal tumor antigens human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and survivin with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration, ovarian cancer stem cell/hTERT/survivin mRNAs-loaded autologous DC-006 vaccine may elicit a highly specific cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response against ovarian cancer cells expressing hTERT, survivin, and specific ovarian cancer stem cell antigens. hTERT, the catalytic subunit of human telomerase, and survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins, may be upregulated in certain tumor cell types, playing key roles in tumor cell growth and survival. Ovarian cancer stem cells contain a specific range of antigens that are essential for the neoplastic growth and survival of ovarian cancer cells. (NCI Thesaurus)