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Immune Response Can Deepen
and Be Sustained Over Time
- The antitumor immune response evolves and expands over time by constantly recognizing and remembering tumor antigens1
- The effects of immune activation are not static; instead, they can improve and deepen over time2,3
- The release of new antigens following tumor-cell death fuels the cycle, as new
tumor-specific T cells are continuously recruited to kill tumor cells1,2,4 - Over time, as the cycle is repeated, the antitumor immune response continues to broaden2
- This ability—to propagate and perpetuate—reflects the adaptive nature of the immune response1
- As the immune response continues to expand, some cytotoxic T cells mature into memory T cells
3,5
- Memory T cells may provide
long-term immune protection, even if the original stimulus is no longer present3,5,6
References–Immune response over time
1. Chen DS, Mellman I. Oncology meets immunology: the cancer-immunity cycle. Immunity. 2013;39:1-10. 2. Markiewicz MA, Fallarino F, Ashikari A, Gajewski TF. Epitope spreading upon P815 tumor rejection triggered by vaccination with the single class I MHC-restricted peptide P1A. Int Immunol. 2001;13(5):625-632. 3. Kaech SM, Wherry EJ, Ahmed R. Effector and memory T-cell differentiation: implications for vaccine development. Nat Rev Immunol. 2002;2(4):251-262. 4. el-Shami K, Tirosh B, Bar-Haîm E, et al. MHC class I-restricted epitope spreading in the context of tumor rejection following vaccination with a single immunodominant CTL epitope. Eur J Immunol. 1999;29(10):3295-3301. 5. Xiang R, Lode HN, Gillies SD, Reisfeld RA. T cell memory against colon carcinoma is long-lived in the absence of antigen. J Immunol. 1999;163(7):3676-3683. 6. Lau LL, Jamieson BD, Somasundaram T, Ahmed R. Cytotoxic T-cell memory without antigen. Nature. 1994;369(6482):648-652.