Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction Assessment of Immune Reactivity in Melanoma Patients After Tumor Peptide Vaccination

Abstract

Vaccination induces circulating antitumor lymphocytes, albeit in low frequencies, capable of directly reacting with tumor antigen. PBMCs of vaccinated individuals can respond to a vaccine-specific stimulus in a direct assay that does not require prolonged in vitro manipulations.