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A variety of tumors are potentially immunogenic but do not stimulate an effective anti-tumor immune response in vivo. Tumors may be capable of delivering antigen-specific signals to T cells, but may not deliver the costimulatory signals necessary for full activation of T cells. Expression of the costimulatory ligand B7 on melanoma cells was found to induce the rejection of a murine melanoma in vivo. This rejection was mediated by CD8+ T cells; CD4+ T cells were not required. These results suggest that B7 expression renders tumor cells capable of effective antigen presentation, leading to their eradication in vivo.
Townsend et al. (Fri,) studied this question.