Adoptive transfer of tumor- and minor antigen-specific T cell reactivity in mouse models

Abstract

Adoptive transfer of T cell immunity has been proposed as an attractive form of cancer immunotherapy in cases where the endogenous T cell repertoire is immune tolerant. In this thesis murine models are used to study two different approaches to generate T cell grafts with defined tumor specificities. First the feasibility of minor antigen specific T cell depletion to limit the development of Graft-versus-Host Disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in combination with donor lymphocyte infusions is addressed. In the second part T cell receptor gene transfer is used to generate tumor specific T cells.