LIVE VACCINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF TUMOUR DISEASES

摘要

The invention concerns the preparation and use of a live tumour-cell vaccine which contains three additional genes prepared by genetic-engineering techniques: a) a gene coding for a cell-surface protein with immunostimulatory activity, b) a cytokin gene and c) the thymidine kinase gene. The fields of application of the invention are medicine and genetic engineering. The live vaccine proposed owes its effect to the fact that a synergistic anti-tumour response is induced by the multiple transfer of genes which code for immunostimulatory activity. This leads to reliable repulsion of the vaccine cells and enables cells capable of multiplying to be injected as a vaccine. As an additional safety marker, the vaccine cells are given the thymidine kinase gene which enables the vaccine cells to be selectively killed in vivo. The combinatory expression of genes with immunostimulatory activity improves the vaccine effect in comparison with prior art tumour-cell vaccines, and a live tumour-cell vaccine is more effective than a vaccine consisting of cells which are incapable of multiplying. The vaccine is intended for use in the genetic therapy of cancer patients.