Cytokine-induced tumor immunogenicity: from exogenous cytokines to gene therapy.

The local presence of cytokines can drastically alter tumor host immune relations and activate a nonspecific reaction that in some cases leads to induction of specific responses to otherwise nonimmunogenic tumors. The employment of cytokines in the creation of new antitumor vaccines is thus a tempting prospect. Analogous effects have been obtained with cytokines inoculated locally and cytokines released from tumor cells engineered to produce them. An account is given of some mechanisms whereby this cytokine-induced reaction results in increased tumor immunogenicity. However, the real value of this potential form of vaccine in inducing the regression of incipient or established tumors remains to be established.