Ilaria Traverso, Daniela Fenoglio, Simone Negrini, Alessia Parodi, Florinda Battaglia, Francesca Kalli, Giuseppina Conteduca, Samuele Tardito, Paolo Traverso, Francesco Indiveri, Gilberto Filaci
CD8(+) regulatory T cells (Treg) and CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg infiltrate human cancers, thus favoring tumor immune escape. Therefore, in the setting of antitumor therapeutic protocols, it is important to associate antitumor treatment with agents that are able to inhibit Treg function. Cyclophosphamide (CY) has been demonstrated to be effective in counteracting CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg activity. Hence, we tested its inhibitory efficacy on human CD8(+) Treg. Because CY is a prodrug, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC), a derivative of CY that in aqueous solution is converted to 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide, an active metabolite of CY, was used...
March 2012: Human Immunology