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Review

Nature Reviews Cancer 8, 351–360 (1 May 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrc2373

Immunotherapy of established (pre)malignant disease by synthetic long peptide vaccines

Cornelis J.M. Melief & Sjoerd H. van der Burg

This Review deals with recent progress in the immunotherapy of established (pre)malignant disease of viral or non-viral origin by synthetic vaccines capable of inducing robust T-cell responses. The most attractive vaccine compounds are synthetic long peptides (SLP) corresponding to the sequence of tumour viral antigens or tumour-associated non-viral antigens. Crucial to induction of therapeutic T-cell immunity is the capacity of SLP to deliver specific cargo to professional antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells (DC)). Proper DC activation then induces the therapeutic CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses that are associated with regression of established (pre)malignant lesions, including those induced by high-risk human papilloma virus.