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Immunotherapy of Cancer pp 59–72Cite as

The Role of Immune Monitoring in Evaluating Cancer Immunotherapy

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Part of the book series: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development ((CDD&D))

Abstract

Just as cancer vaccines have evolved tremendously over the past decades, so too have the methods used to monitor the immune responses that they are intended to induce. In this chapter, current cellular immune monitoring methods will be reviewed briefly in an effort to compare and contrast their utility. These methods include cytotoxicity and proliferation assays (radioactive and nonradioactive), cytokine assays (bulk and singlecell assays), and major histocompatibility complex-peptide multimer staining. Furthermore, the role that these assays can play in evaluating a cancer vaccine will be examined critically. It is likely that modern immune monitoring assays can be useful for comparing the immunogenicity of different vaccine approaches, even across clinical trials, but only if they are sufficiently standardized. Whether such assays will eventually be able to predict clinical efficacy of a vaccine remains to be determined.

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  1. BD Biosciences, Immunocytometry Systems, San Jose, CA

    Holden T. Maecker PhD

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  1. Holden T. Maecker PhD
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  1. University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA

    Mary L. Disis MD

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© 2006 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Maecker, H.T. (2006). The Role of Immune Monitoring in Evaluating Cancer Immunotherapy. In: Disis, M.L. (eds) Immunotherapy of Cancer. Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59745-011-1:059

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