Development of an Interferon-Based Cancer Vaccine Protocol: Application to Several Types of Murine Cancers

A protocol for the development of cancer vaccines is presented. The protocol is based upon the long-term in vitro treatment of cancer cells with interferon (IFN)-α to create cancer vaccine cells. This protocol has been used to develop cancer vaccines in mice against B16 melanoma, RM-1 prostate cancer, and P388 lymphocytic leukemia. A detailed description of the protocol is presented. Important considerations that are discussed include the method of selection of potential cancer vaccine cells that would make good models for cancer vaccines for human cancers, the effects of in vitro IFN-α treatment concentration on the efficacy of generated cancer vaccine cells, the differential ability of cancer cells to become efficacious cancer vaccine cells in response to IFN-α treatment, the determination of the effectiveness of ultraviolet-light killing of various cancer cell types for generating cancer vaccine cells, and the methods of evaluation of statistical significance of the data obtained. Potential problems also are addressed.