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Most tumors, including prostate carcinoma, are heterogeneous mixtures of neoplastic cells and supporting stromal matrix. Attempts to vaccinate as a means to treat or prevent cancer have typically relied on use of a single antigen or cell type. In the case of whole-cell vaccines, clonal populations of cancer cells are grown in culture and harvested for vaccine material. However, it is clear from microarray data that neoplastic cells grown in culture are greatly different from those found in vivo. Tissue vaccines are harvested directly from tumors and are used to immunize the animal or the patient. They are antigenically rich, in that they are comprised of not only neoplastic cells but also supporting stromal matrix; furthermore, they include antigens that may be expressed only in vivo and which may be critical to a successful immune response to the cancer. For these reasons, the idea that tissue vaccines for cancer have potentially great utility has merit and should be explored further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of diseases, including some which affect the hemostatic and blood coagulation systems, result from dysfunction of specific cell types. Attempts to ameliorate such diseases by implantation of healthy donor cells typically fail due to immune rejection of the donor cells. One method to possibly overcome this limitation is to administer donor cells prior to immune competence, thus inducing immune tolerance to the donated cells. To accomplish this, donor cells must be administered in utero, relatively early in the developmental process. We describe herein studies in which engraftments of fetal hepatocytes and a hepatoblast line were successfully accomplished by in utero administration of cells in mice. This approach reversed the clinical outcome of Factor X (FX) deficiency, increasing the survival time of FX null mice. Further, engraftment of donor cells was observed in the liver, as well as the spleen, brain, interstitium of the gonad, and lung. These results demonstrate the potential for application of in utero administration of fetal or blast cells for correction of disease related to specific cell or tissue dysfunction. The potential for ectopic engraftment suggests that this approach requires further refinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]