Potential Target Antigens for a Universal Vaccine in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

• Main Authors: Renee Vermeij, Toos Daemen, Geertruida H. de Bock, Pauline de Graeff, Ninke Leffers, Annechien Lambeck, Klaske A. ten Hoor, Harry Hollema, Ate G. J. van der Zee, Hans W. Nijman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2010-01-01
• Series: Clinical and Developmental Immunology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/891505
• ISSN: 1740-2522; 1740-2530

The prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the primary cause of death from gynaecological malignancies, has only modestly improved over the last decades. Immunotherapeutic treatment using a cocktail of antigens has been proposed as a “universal” vaccine strategy. We determined the expression of tumor antigens in the context of MHC class I expression in 270 primary tumor samples using tissue microarray. Expression of tumor antigens p53, SP17, survivin, WT1, and NY-ESO-1 was observed in 120 (48.0%), 173 (68.9%), 208 (90.0%), 129 (56.3%), and 27 (11.0%) of 270 tumor specimens, respectively. In 93.2% of EOC, at least one of the investigated tumor antigens was (over)expressed. Expression of MHC class I was observed in 78.1% of EOC. In 3 out 4 primary tumors, (over)expression of a tumor antigen combined with MHC class I was observed. These results indicate that a multiepitope vaccine, comprising these antigens, could serve as a universal therapeutic vaccine for the vast majority of ovarian cancer patients.