Breast cancer: Draining lymph node of vaccination site targeted by adjuvant GM-CSF in an autologous vaccine

13506 Background: We have reported the sensitization against Tumor Associated Antigens (TAA) and the tumor antiprogressive effect of Autologous Thermostable Hemoderivative-Cancer Vaccine (ATH-CV) in breast cancer patients (E. Garcia-Giralt et al ASCO, 2006). Systemic immune response elicited by TAA is started by a locoregional immune response at the microenvironment constituted by the antigens source and the draining lymph node. The antigens source can be a tumor or a vaccination site and respectively, the draining lymph node is the sentinel lymph node (SLN) or the Sentinel Immunized Node (SIN). Tolerogenic or protective locoregional immune response is decisional because it starts a corresponding systemic immune response, tolerogenic or protective. GM-CSF is a conditioner of SLN and SIN, switching the locoregional immune responses from tolerogenic to protective (ML Disis et al Blood, 1996; AJ Cochran et al Nat Rev Immunology, 2006). Therefore, to optimize the ATH-CV antitumoral effect, we have explored GM...