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Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Immunotherapy: Current Strategies and Perspectives

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Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 778))

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Abstract

Recent success in treating Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) using cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) based immunotherapy has led to interest in the development of CTL-based immunotherapy to treat other EBV-associated malignancies, including Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However unlike PTLD, which arises in immunosuppressed individuals following transplant, NPC can arise in immunocompetent individuals, expresses a limited array of EBV antigens that are poorly immunogenic, and appear to suppress the function of these T cells either directly or through the expansion of regulatory T cells. There is therefore a unique set of problems that need to be addressed in order to optimise CTL-therapy for the effective treatment of NPC.

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Smith, C., Khanna, R. (2013). Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Immunotherapy: Current Strategies and Perspectives. In: Busson, P. (eds) Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 778. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5947-7_11

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