Therapeutic cancer vaccines derived from a novel dendritic cell line

Abstract

The invention is in the field of medical sciences. It provides means and methods for the treatment of cancer. More in particular, it provides cells and cell lines that can be developed into fully functional dendritic cells. These cells endogenously express cancer-specific antigens, which makes them particularly suited for the treatment of different kinds of cancer. More in particular, the invention relates to a precursor cell line for dendritic cells called DC-One as deposited at the DSMZ under accession number DSMZ ACC3189 on Nov. 15, 2012.

1 - 5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . A method for treating cancer comprising administering to a subject in need thereof modified cells that are CD34-positive, CD1a-positive, CD83-positive, and CD14-negative, thereby treating cancer in the subject. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6  wherein the cancer is acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the modified cells are administered as a therapeutic cancer vaccine. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the cancer is selected from the group consisting of lung cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, skin cancer, myelodysplastic syndrome, brain cancer and bladder cancer. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the modified cells are combined with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier to form an immunogenic composition. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the modified cell is differentiated from a precursor cell line of leukemic origin. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the precursor cell line is as deposited at the DSMZ under accession number DSMZ ACC3189 on Nov. 15, 2012. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the modified cells are obtained by a method comprising the steps of incubating the precursor cell line under conditions that allow differentiation of the progenitor cells into immature cells and incubating said immature cells under conditions that allow maturation of the immature cells into modified cells. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the method for obtaining the modified cells additionally comprises a step of altering the phenotype of the modified cells by introducing genetic material into the cells and/or by knocking out endogenous genes of the cells. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the genetic material is a gene encoding an immunotherapeutic agent. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the immunotherapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of a tumor antigen, a viral antigen, and an antigen from a parasite, bacteria, or other microorganism. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein conditions that allow differentiation of the precursor cells comprise contacting the precursor cells with a composition comprising at least one molecule selected from the group consisting of IL-4, IL-6, PGE-2, TNF-α, TGF-β, and GM-CSF. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein differentiation of the precursor cells comprises contacting the precursor cells with a composition comprising GM-CSF, IL-4, and TNF-α. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein conditions that allow maturation of the immature cells comprise contacting the immature cells with a composition comprising at least one molecule selected from the group consisting of IL-6, PGE-2, TNFα and IL1β. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein maturation of the immature cells comprises contacting the immature cells with a composition comprising TNFα, PGE2, and IL1fβ. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising combining the modified cell with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier to form an immunogenic composition. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising loading the cell with at least one further antigen.