Costimulatory approaches to adoptive immunotherapy

Costimulation is critical for induction of full T-cell effector function, and thus represents an attractive immunotherapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer. This review examines these approaches, including ex vivo T-cell expansion, systemic "delivery" of constimulation, tumors transduced or transfected with costimulatory ligands, and vaccine strategies using coimmunization with the genes for costimulatory ligands. Impressive results in animal models have been demonstrated and a wide range of human clinical trials are underway.