P53 AS A TARGET FOR ANTICANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY

The key to specific and non-toxic cancer therapy is likely to be ident ification and targeting of processes that are absolutely unique to the tumor. One such approach is to target cells expressing mutations in t he oncoproteins that led to the development of the cancer, such as p53 . In animal model systems, highly mutant p53-specific cytotoxic T cell s can be induced, but it remains to be seen whether this can be transl ated into clinical practice, and what proportion of tumors will respon d. In this review, the potential and problems of immunological targeti ng of mutant p53 in solid tumors are discussed.