Anaplastic lymphoma kinase: an oncogene for tumor vaccination.

Overview

The immune system contributes both to the maintenance of cancer in an equilibrium state and to the elimination of tumor cells. Specific antitumor vaccination could increase the intensity or modulate the quality of this immune response against transformed cells. Antitumor vaccination strategies rely upon the identification of one or multiple antigens that can serve to stimulate the immune system. This review will focus particularly on cancer vaccination strategies based on the use of DNA molecules and on the search for antigens that are required for the growth of tumor cells and that cannot be easily down-regulated by the cancer cells (oncoantigens). In addition, we will summarize some results on clinical trials that are currently exploiting selected antigens against tumors and on the recently identified anaplastic lymphoma kinase as a potential oncoantigen for selected types of human cancers.