Definition

A whole cell vaccine comprised of irradiated allogenic pancreatic tumor cells transfected with a plasmid DNA encoding human sargramostim (GM-CSF). Vaccination results in expression of GM-CSF, which induces proliferation and differentiation hematopoietic lineage cells as well as stimulating macrophage and dendritic cell functions in antigen presentation and antitumor cell-mediated immunity. Furthermore, administration of this pancreatic tumor cell vaccine may elicit a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response against similar host tumor cells, resulting in decreased tumor growth.