Promises and limitations of murine models in the development of anticancer T-cell vaccines

Murine models have been instrumental in defining the basic mechanisms of antitumor immunity. Most of these mechanisms have since been shown to operate in humans as well. Based on these similarities, active vaccination strategies aimed at eliciting antitumor T-cell responses have been elaborated and successfully implemented in various mouse models. However, the results of human antitumor vaccination trials have been rather disappointing thus far. This' review summarizes the different experimental approaches used in mice to induce antitumor T-cell responses and identifies some critical parameters that should be considered when evaluating results from murine models.