Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jul;127(7):1673-80.
doi: 10.1038/sj.jid.5700777. Epub 2007 Mar 22.

Imiquimod enhances the systemic immunity attained by local cryosurgery destruction of melanoma lesions

Pedro Redondo  1 , Julio del Olmo, Ascensión López-Diaz de Cerio, Susana Inoges, Miren Marquina, Ignacio Melero, Maurizio Bendandi
Affiliations
Free article

Imiquimod enhances the systemic immunity attained by local cryosurgery destruction of melanoma lesions

Pedro Redondo et al. J Invest Dermatol. 2007 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

Melanoma lesions can be frozen in vivo, resulting in necrotic death of malignant cells and in tumor antigen release suitable for cross-presentation by professional antigen-presenting cells. Imiquimod is a small molecule with adjuvant pro-inflammatory effects that can be topically delivered as a cream. Local cryosurgery of B16/ovalbumin (OVA)-derived subcutaneous tumor nodules leads to curative destruction of the lesions. If imiquimod is repeatedly applied on the cryo-treated lesion, a conspicuous, leukocyte-rich inflammatory infiltrate appears during the days following treatment. Mice treated by cryosurgery plus imiquimod rejected rechallenges of B16/OVA in 90% of the cases, whereas cryosurgery alone failed to prevent tumor grafting in 70% of the cases. The combination treatment of B16/OVA tumors was also able to protect 60% of the mice against outgrowth of a lethal dose of non-transfected B16 tumor cells. Addition of imiquimod to cryosurgery results in increases of the cellular immune response against tumor antigens as measured by in vitro IFN-gamma production and T-cell proliferation in response to OVA. The potent memory response is not only directed against the OVA epitope, but also toward a broader range of B16 antigens. Our data indicate that these combined treatments turn the treated tumor lesion into an autologous tumor vaccine, which is even able to cause vitiligo in several cases. These preclinical data and the simplicity of the procedures warrant the design of a pilot clinical trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms