Immunotherapy with antibody-targeted HLA class I complexes: results of in vivo tumour cell killing and therapeutic vaccination.

Background: The delivery of antibody-targeted major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I complexes containing immunogenic peptides to the surface of tumour cells allows cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) of non-tumour specificity to recognise and kill the tumour cell. Previous studies have demonstrated the activity of this system in vitro and in a simple pre-clinical model. This system has also been shown to be an effective method of expanding antigen-specific CTLs in vitro when used to target MHC class I complexes to the surface of B cells.