The Role of Peptide-Based Tumor Vaccines on Cytokines of Adaptive Immunity: A Review

Recently, peptide-based materials have been applied to solving many therapeutic problems and have shown particular efficacy as cancer immunotherapies, including early diagnosis, prognostic predictors, and the treatment of cancer patients by interacting with dendritic cells (DCs) as part of the first line of immune defense. It has become more obvious that not only cluster of differentiation (CD)8 + cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), but also CD4 + T helper (TH) cells are required for the induction of an optimal, long-lasting anti-tumor immune response. TH cells, exhibit a critical function in tumor immunological responses. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that peptide has both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on the immune system response. This review was conducted on effects of peptides on lymphocyte subsets and cytokines of adaptive immunity. Mechanisms of anti-tumor immunity by peptide‑based vaccines were also studied. According to the studies, it is supposed that peptide based vaccine could active TH1 (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-12, and TNF-α) and retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors gamma (ROR-γ) TH17 (IL-17) types cytokine profile, and inhibit TH2 (IL-4, IL-6 and IL-13, except IL-5) and forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) regulatory T cell (IL-10 and TGF-β) cytokines production in vivo and in vitro.